The Missing City
by Peter Smith
Summary: Welcome to my latest point-of-view story, this time featuring Scott, the Brontosaurus Ranger! While Scott's sense of hope and optimism steadily fades thanks to the constant stresses of his Ranger life, Zordon sends he, Kim and Brendan on a search and rescue mission to a faraway alien city, where mystery, danger and deadly traps lie in wait. Reviews welcomed! :)
1. Chapter 1

_Author's notes – Hey everybody! Wow, it's been a while. I had a rough 2016 (which apparently everybody in the world did) and I didn't end up writing much at all. But I am determined to finish my series of POV stories. I've got Trini, Zac and Sarah to go. When the calendar ticked over to January, this year, I took the chance to start writing again, and I wrote Scott's story. Scott's one of my favourite characters, but he hasn't had many badass moments, so I've tried to really get him front-and-centre in this one. This story also features another original villain, but a villain who goes on to appear in another story (that takes place after this one), so I needed the Rangers to meet him in_ this _story. Plus, the idea of a city on the moon is such a popular science-fantasy trope, and I really wanted to introduce one for my own Rangers to explore._

 _I trust everybody enjoyed the Lionsgate MMPR movie? It wasn't perfect, but I admit, I really loved it. It's a good time to be a Power Ranger, ladies and gents :). Enjoy the story!_

* * *

 **Chapter One**

A few years ago, I used to look up at the stars and wonder what was up there.

I realised the other day I don't do that much anymore. I guess once you know what's out there, when you've met some of the people looking back? It takes some of the magic out of it.

Hi! My name's Scott. I know I look like an ordinary thirteen-year-old boy, but trust me. My life's a little more interesting than that. And, actually, if I'm being honest? A lot more.

My twin sister Teresa and I grew up in a small coastal town in Australia. One day, the world got its answer about who was looking back from the stars, when the planet came under attack by evil forces from the depths of space and time. Soon enough, Teresa and I were drawn into this fight alongside some of our closest friends. Recruited by an impossibly-wise interdimensional wizard named Zordon, we were given Power Coins and became the Junior Team of the Power Rangers. I can still remember that first morning in the Command Centre, our secret base in the middle of the Australian desert. My mind was buzzing. I had so many questions about the world that had suddenly opened up before us. The funny thing is, every day, I have even more. You'd think that would go away after a while, but trust me, it really doesn't.

Back home, this year has been our first year of high school. It's actually been really tough getting used to feeling small all over again. My eldest brother once told me after an exhausting round of exams that high school wasn't meant to be easy, and he was right about that. Still, I think of the older Rangers looking out for the six of us and helping us find our way, and I'm glad there's people on our side. Meanwhile, as a Ranger? This year has been _crazy_. I guess I'm finally starting to realise just what it means to be part of Zordon's legacy. This year, we met dragon kings and angry demons, wizards and aliens and powerful queens. We've travelled to mystical realms and left footprints on faraway planets. We visited the ancient past and met one of our descendants from the future. And we've even been to an entire other Universe, to help a friendly gargoyle prince defend a beautiful castle. Twice.

And the one thing all these places have in common?

Trouble. Monsters to fight, people to rescue, tyrants and bullies to defend against. Sometimes Brendan jokes that the world can't go five minutes without needing to be saved. And lately, it hasn't felt like much of a joke any more.

Occasionally in our down-time, my friends and family ask me, 'what's been your favourite adventure?' It's a tough question. Honestly, there were dozens of them. Besides, usually we only get called into action because something awful has happened, either here or far away, and it seems strange, if not a little inappropriate, to try and pick the one I liked the best. See, the trick is that very few of them were ever asking the right question. If they'd known that, they would've been asking me, 'what was your most _memorable_ adventure?' And that one's easy.

There were two different missions I went on in my early days as the Blue Ranger. They were separated by a year and a half and didn't have much in common, but they'd always be linked in my mind. It's funny how things work out like that, but more on that later.

This particular adventure began on a cold, shadowy July morning. We'd just started back at school for the second half of the year. We had a brand new class schedule but not too much homework yet, so with nothing else on my plate that weekend, I teleported into the Command Centre. I didn't need to see Zordon or Alpha, but I wanted to add some details about our recent trip to Gargoyle Castle into my journal. After our first few missions, I started keeping a diary of all our adventures. The places we go, the monsters we fight, things like that. Alpha and Zordon keep pretty detailed records here in the Command Centre, but I like to be able to put my own thoughts into writing. And when villains inevitably escape to cause us trouble later, it's been a useful resource to have.

Opening my locker down the hall from the central chamber, I reached for the journal but accidentally sent a cascade of books tumbling to the floor. Scooping the books back into the locker, I reached for where the journal had landed. But as I picked it up, I saw it had fallen open to one of our first adventures after Lord Zedd had arrived. I saw my handwriting and Teresa's sketch of the monster, and memories of the day came flooding back into my mind.

Shutting my locker, I suddenly heard the unmistakable noise of the Command Centre alarm. What was going on? Keeping the diary tucked under my arm, I jogged around to the central chamber.

* * *

 _In twelve flashes of light, the Rangers and I touched down in the Command Centre, arriving before an expectant Zordon and Alpha. We'd been hanging out in the Youth Centre that morning, with Pete and Sarah telling us about a grandfather clock a great-aunt of theirs had recently bought, when our communicators had beeped the ever-familiar six note chime. Retreating to the back corner of the Youth Centre, we'd expected Alpha to send us into battle against one of Lord Zedd's monsters. Instead, Alpha asked us to teleport to the Command Centre for further instruction. With the touch of a button, we were here a second later._

" _What's the emergency Zordon?" asked Jason._

" _Yeah, is there a monster?" added Ian._

" _I'm afraid so Rangers," Zordon replied, "and it's a particularly fiendish creation. It's why I called in all twelve of you. If you could turn to the viewing screen?"_

 _We turned to the opposite side of the room as the viewing screen flashed to life. On the screen was a deserted, empty street. I recognised it as one of the streets lined with hotels and apartment buildings down near Kings Beach. Only it wasn't deserted. As the footage panned around, I saw dozens of people frozen in mid-motion, men, women and even entire families. Some of them were in the process of running, some were raising their arms defensively while some had been frozen crossing the street. But they were all stuck in odd, unbalanced positions. They should've been falling over. And as we watched, we could see the figures fading it and out, flickering like a paused videotape._

" _Is there something wrong with the feed?" asked Trini._

" _I'm afraid not," Zordon replied. "That is real time footage, which unfortunately is the problem."_

 _Onscreen, a flock of seagulls flew past the street, when there was a flash of blue light and the seagulls were frozen like everybody else. We soon saw the source of the problem, unmistakably one of Zedd's monsters. The beast looked like nothing so much as a grandfather clock brought to life. Standing tall on weathered timber legs, the monster's body was the clock's case, with a pendulum and clanking gears visible behind a glass window. In the monster's hand was a small rectangular clock, while the creature had four faces pointing in all directions, each face with a single eye behind two clock hands._

" _Wait," Sarah began, and looked around. "Is that thing based on great-aunt Barbara's new grandfather clock?"_

" _Sorry guys," Pete added forlornly. "It looks like this one's on us."_

" _The monster's name is Father Time," Zordon said. "The clock weapon he carries fires a beam of concentrated chronal energy, which freezes its victims in a single split-second of time. The temporal effect is mild, but we can't seem to break through to rescue any of the people already trapped."_

" _So we take out the smaller clock and break the spell," Zac said._

" _Theoretically," Alpha replied._

 _I leaned closer to the screen. The monster's four faces were all different. The current face looking forward was quite young, with rounded red cheeks and the single tooth of a baby or toddler. "What's going on with its faces?" I asked._

" _I suspect Zedd is making a pun on the four ages of humankind," Zordon replied. "Regardless, be careful Rangers. If you get frozen in time, we won't be able to help you from here."_

 _Even as we watched, a Japanese family staying in one of the hotels stepped onto the street, unaware of the danger. As they crossed the monster's path, he raised the clock and fired a beam of blue energy, freezing them in place. But I noticed as the beam blasted across the road, the pendulum in the monster's chest glowed the same iridescent blue colour._

" _We can't wait anymore," said Teresa, and we spun back to Zordon. "We have to go help those people!"_

" _Yeah, the monster's only a few streets away from the city centre," Kim added._

" _Good luck Rangers," said Zordon. "We'll teleport you into the city immediately. Be careful. This monster is very dangerous."_

" _Okay Rangers," Jason began, and everyone reached for their back pocket. "It's morphin' time!"_

* * *

Following the sound of the alarm, I stepped into the shadowy main room of the Command Centre to see Alpha bouncing between three computer consoles at once. Something terrible had happened. I knew it instinctively. But seeing me appear, both Zordon and Alpha turned to me with surprise.

"Aye yi yi Scott!" Alpha exclaimed. "I didn't see you teleport in!"

I held up my journal. "I just came in to do some work," I said, and rested the book on the console closest to the viewing screen. "What's going on? Is there a monster?"

"Not quite," Zordon boomed. At full volume, he has a voice that you can not only hear but feel inside your head. It can be a little unnerving sometimes. "I'm glad to see you Scott. We may have need of you. If you can give us just one minute?" I stepped out of the way as Zordon turned his gaze back to his robotic assistant. "Alpha, have you been able to reach them at all?"

"No Zordon, I haven't," Alpha replied. "I've been scanning every frequency and trying every channel! But there's total silence. We can't even scan the inside of the city because it's so far away! Whatever's happened there, nobody's replying to any of our messages."

"Then it leaves us with no choice," Zordon said solemnly. "Call in the Rangers."

I spoke up. "You won't be able to reach Peter and Sarah, they're down in Brisbane with their grandparents this morning," I said. "And I know Billy and Trini have a study group today."

"He's right Zordon," Alpha said. "From what I can see, Brendan and Kimberly are the only Rangers available!"

"Bring them in," Zordon said.

A moment later, Brendan and Kim appeared beside me in two flashes of aqua and pink light respectively. Glancing around to catch their bearings, they soon saw me standing there and jogged over to greet me.

A member of the original six Rangers, Kimberly was fierce and strong, and a frightening opponent in a fight. I always feel a little intimidated around her, I think, just because she's such an amazing Ranger. But when Kim's just Kim, she's sweet and kind, and I know that Brendan has a crush on her. It's kind of funny. For his part, Brendan is a bit of a jokester who doesn't take a lot of things seriously. Don't get me wrong. I think he's hilarious most of the time, and everyone loves him. But I've always felt like he and I just didn't have a lot in common.

"Hey dude," Brendan said. "Never a dull moment, right?"

"Good to see you Scotty," Kim smiled, then looked to Zordon. "Is there trouble?"

I'm not sure about the nickname. It's nice to be part of the group, but it always sounded like they would've preferred to see Billy, and had to settle for me instead.

"I'm sorry for interrupting your morning Rangers," Zordon said. "But we have a situation."

"It's all good," Brendan replied. "So what are we killing today?"

"Far away on the other side of the galaxy," Zordon began, "lies a planet classified as XT-50, orbiting a small yellow star. The planet is inhospitable to most lifeforms, but it has a rocky moon much like Earth's. Many years ago, a team of engineers and scientists from the planet Techthon built a city on the moon, naming it Lumelian. A testament to science and discovery, Lumelian has been there ever since, attracting some of the finest minds in the galaxy."

"Lumelian?" repeated Kimberly. "Cool name."

"Roughly translated, it means light of the moon," Zordon explained.

"So it's like under a giant dome or something?" Brendan asked.

"No, that's only in the movies," I said. "If one part of the dome was ever damaged, the whole city would be in trouble, particularly with the vacuum of space outside."

I glanced up to see Zordon smiling at me proudly. "Rangers, if you could turn to the viewing screen?" he asked.

We turned around as the viewing screen flashed to life. Before us was a rocky landscape that instantly reminded me of the moon. But in the centre of the screen, lit up defiantly against the encroaching darkness all around, was the city of Lumelian. The colony was made up of about a dozen silver buildings, few of them more than ten storeys tall, all linked by narrow walkways and smaller connecting structures. Most of the buildings had telescopes or antenna equipment along their rooves. On the city's outskirts were several large hangars I assumed were spaceship bays, while a short distance across the lunar terrain was a pile of rusty spaceships and construction equipment, all things I guess were so old their pieces couldn't even be used for scrap anymore.

"Wow," I said.

Kim nodded. "It's amazing," she agreed.

"You're not wrong," Zordon said. "Lumelian is widely-regarded as one of the greatest scientific wonders of the galaxy."

We turned back to Zordon. "So what happened?" I asked.

"About five hours ago, someone in the city sent out a distress call," Zordon replied. "An urgent SOS. A rescue party was dispatched from Techthon, but given the distance involved, they'll take weeks to arrive. Rangers, the current population of the city is five hundred and twenty-seven people. There are scientists, astronomers, work crews, tourists, and yes, even children, some of them much younger than yourselves. And they may not have weeks to wait." He paused at that, and I felt my heart sink a little. Great.

"Do we know what happened?" I asked.

"No, we do not," Zordon replied gravely. "We've been trying to open a communication link to Lumelian for hours now, but we can't reach anybody. There's been no follow-up to the distress signal, no attempts to communicate, and no indication that it might have been a false alarm."

"In short Rangers," Alpha said. "We have no clue what's gone on in Lumelian since the alarm was triggered. And that makes us nervous."

"We can't even look inside?" Kim asked.

Zordon shook his head. "The city is very well-protected," he began, "which unfortunately is what's keeping us out. We can't even teleport you inside, thanks to the city's shielding. But we can get you onto the lunar surface. From there it's up to you. You need to get into Lumelian and find out what's happened."

"How do we get in from the outside?" Brendan asked. "I'm guessing there isn't a door-bell."

"Four-door airlocks with three internal chambers connect the city to the outside lunar environment," Zordon replied. "If one door fails, three more are still active. If one chamber is compromised, there's a failsafe of two more. If they fail, the citizenry can be evacuated to different parts of the city, and each individual section can be closed off from the others. Every functional aspect of Lumelian is designed specifically to keep its occupants safe. That's how you get in, Rangers. And once you're inside, do whatever you can to protect the citizens from whatever's happened to them."

"We'll keep trying to contact the other Rangers," Alpha began, "so we can send them after you. But we need to send the three of you at once. Given the orbit of the moon and several nearby stars, maintaining a communications link with Zordon and I while you're there will be extremely difficult. Once you arrive, you'll be out of range within an hour. Possibly sooner."

"Which is why we can't wait for the other Rangers," Zordon finished. "We need to get you there now."

"But if the city is shielded, how do we contact you once we're inside?" I asked. "What if we need to run a scan or something?"

"Luckily, Alpha has been working on a transmitter that should be able to help us," Zordon replied. "Alpha?"

Alpha reached under the nearest console and held up a black cylindrical device with a short antenna and blinking lights. Several cables were connected to the base, while firm black shoulder straps were attached to either end.

"Once you're inside Lumelian," Zordon continued, "plug the transmitter into any computer you can find. That should boost the signal from your communicators so that Alpha and I will be able to stay in contact with you, even behind the city's shields."

I reached for the transmitter and slung it around my back. "Thanks," I said. "I'll take care of it."

"I'm sorry for sending you into the unknown," Zordon said. "But someone in that city needs your help. Good luck Rangers. Go save some lives."

"Okay boys," Kim began, glancing from Brendan on her left to me on her right, "let's do this," and we reached for our back pockets. "It's morphin' time!"

"Dilophosaurus!"

"Brontosaurus!"

"Pterodactyl!"

* * *

 _To be continued._


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's notes - ChibiDawn, thanks for your kind words! I'm glad to be back, put it that way :). I haven't done a story with flashbacks in a while, but I really wanted to use them for this one, because they really work for the story. Like you said, I get to tell two stories instead of one. With the flashback battle against Father Time, my goal was essentially to write an MMPRs2 episode. There's an army of putties, and Father Time fits the DaiRanger monster scheme (with his name and design, particularly his eyes and different faces). There's also the moment where a Japanese family gets captured by the monster? That's the Rangers watching DaiRanger footage in the viewing screen, as they often did :). And although the two stories are very different, when you get to the end, you'll see how they connect. Anyway, on with chapter 2, I hope you enjoy it :)._

* * *

 **Chapter Two**

The three of us morphed in a storm of light and sound. Half a second later, we were on our way, streaking into the sky and shooting across the galaxy at incomprehensible speeds as the stars whirled around us. Time is weird when you're teleporting. It feels instantaneous but also not. I try to remind myself to count the seconds while we're in the air, but either I always forget, or we arrive before I get the chance to start counting.

In a flash of light, I touched down on solid ground, and the world took shape around me. I'd arrived in a small rocky hollow, with pebbles and gravel underfoot. On all sides, the ground curved up and away from me. A second later, I realised I was standing in a crater. I quickly checked the transmitter was still strapped around my back, then looked up past the rim. High above my head was a starry vista, but I didn't recognise any of the constellations. Stepping to the side, a planet came into view with a swirling atmosphere of yellow and brown, and darker cloud formations I assumed were storms. Our suits protect us whenever we're in a vacuum, but standing there in the shadows, I started to feel the bite of the cold. With my teeth chattering, I climbed to the top of the crater and peered around the landscape.

I was standing on a small plateau that sloped down to a wide rocky plain, with nothing around me but rocks and craters. Far above, the planet was now fully visible, while down the slope and over to the right was the junkyard of rusty, broken spaceships. But a few kilometres away stood Lumelian, impossible to miss on the stony landscape. Now with the space colony right in front of me, I could see the city was built around the tallest, central building, with what looked like giant observation windows all around the top floor. Actually standing before the city was so amazing that for a second, it took my breath away. Then I realised how dark all the towers looked. It was like the shadows outside had consumed all the light within. There was no movement anywhere, no maintenance crews or spaceships taking off or any astronauts working outside. All the windows were dark, and there weren't even warning lights flashing on any of the buildings.

Something was really wrong here.

And worse, the Aqua and Pink Rangers were nowhere in sight. Brendan, Kim and I must've been separated by the long teleport.

The silence of space is something I don't think I'll ever get used to. It's such a bizarre trick on your senses. But our Ranger tech is designed with that in mind. At the very least, our communicators should still have been working.

I stepped towards the distant city and raised my wrist to my helmet. "Brendan? Kim? You guys there?" I asked.

"I'm here," Brendan's voice crackled out of the communicator. "I guess we split up on the trip? I landed near, I don't know, it looks like a junk pile."

I scanned the landscape and caught a hint of aqua, in the shadows of a rusting troop carrier. "I see you," I said. "I'm up on the hill. Kim, where are you?"

"I'm here," Kim replied, and I let out a sigh of relief. "But I can't see a junkyard or a hill, so I'm guessing I'm on the other side of the city."

"You're closer than us?" I asked.

"Yeah," came the reply. "Everything's dark, and I can't see anyone. It's creepy."

"Follow the city around and meet us on the side nearest the junkyard," I said. "Don't worry, you won't miss it."

"Got it," Kim replied.

"Race you there," Brendan called.

I shook my head. "Brendan, focus," I murmured. "I'll be there soon," and I jogged down the slope. Reaching the rocky plain, I felt a slight tremor from somewhere below. I watched as the pebbles around me vibrated from the motion. Putting it down to a mild moonquake, or maybe even a meteorite strike on the far side of the moon, I put it at the back of my mind and kept going.

The other two Rangers were waiting in the shadows of one of Lumelian's buildings when I reached them. Kim was right. Up close, Lumelian seemed dark and abandoned. It was unsettling. I couldn't help the thought, what kind of nightmare were we about to walk into? I mean, the city was built in a place without heat or air. If something had gone wrong here, it would've gone _really_ wrong.

Watching me approach, Kim raised her communicator. "Zordon, we're here," she said. "It took us a while to find each other, but we're outside the city now."

"That's good to know," Zordon replied. His voice was faint, but still reasonably clear. "We're sorry about the landing. We thought we could get the three of you closer together. Any clues so far?"

"It doesn't look like there's any damage to any of the buildings," I began. "But it's like nobody's home."

"That doesn't bode well," Zordon said. "Where are you exactly?"

"I'm not sure," Brendan replied. "It's not like there's many landmarks around."

Over to the right, I saw several low, huge buildings with large hangar doors facing away from the city. "Guys?" I began.

Kim didn't hear me. "We're on the junkyard side, if that helps," she said.

"I think we're right by the spaceship hangars," I said impatiently.

The communicator crackled immediately. "Right, we've got you," Zordon said. "Keep heading around to the left. You'll find a roadway that will take you to a maintenance access point. Go through a triple airlock, and you'll be in the city proper. Follow that into the grand entry hall, find a computer terminal and then plug the transmitter in. We'll go from there."

Brendan glanced over to the spaceship hangars. "Good eyes Scotty," he said, and followed after Kimberly. "C'mon."

We found the roadway of flattened stone soon enough, and followed it past several buildings until we came to a short, round structure with two doors on the outside, the entry chambers jutting out from the walls. One of the hatches was the size of a garage door and was probably used for exploration rovers and other vehicles, but the other one was a lot smaller. We immediately made our way to the second door.

"Can we open this from the outside?" Brendan asked.

"You'd think so," Kim replied. "I can't imagine they'd lock it. It's not like they have to worry about the neighbours, is it?"

"And in an emergency, you'd want to get back inside in a hurry," I added. Scanning the surrounding wall, my eyes settled on a small box with a hinged lid, sticking out from the wall and secured by a sturdy padlock. Breaking the lock open, I flipped open the lid to see two large buttons, one red and one green, with instructions beneath them printed in a curling alien language I couldn't read. On a hunch, I hit the red button. Nothing happened, but I didn't think it would. Then I pressed the green switch. The door groaned, there was a hiss of air, and the hatch lifted open.

"It was the…" I began.

"Our way in!" Brendan interrupted. The three of us stepped through the hatch into a narrow metal corridor. There was more writing on the walls we couldn't read, but beside the airlock was another panel with red and green switches. The last one inside, I hit the red switch and the door sealed shut with a hiss.

"That's easy enough," I said. Kim hit the green switch beside the second door to let us into the second chamber, and before long, we were standing in front of the final door. But just as Kim reached for the last green button, I drew my blade blaster and held it ready.

Kim froze. "What do you think we're gonna find in there?" she asked.

"I don't know," I replied. "And that worries me."

Brendan immediately drew his own blaster and held it close. With a nod, Kim opened the door and unholstered her blaster in one smooth motion. The hatch swung open, and we were finally inside the city proper, ready to face … nothing.

Nothing at all.

We stepped into a large garage, our footsteps the only noise in the oppressive, heavy silence. In front of us was a sunken work bay with several six-wheeled rovers sitting idle between workbenches piled high with tools. The walls were lined with equipment lockers, storage cages and barrels. Above our heads, the lights were dim, filling the room with soft shadows.

"Anyone here?" Kim called. We listened as her voice echoed through the building.

"Hello!" shouted Brendan for good measure, but there was no response.

I looked up to the roof to see a tattered strip of plastic billowing in the current from an air vent. "They still have oxygen," I said, as Kim and I reholstered our blasters. I noticed Brendan kept his raised. "Power too," I continued, "although it looks like they're running on emergency back-up or something."

"Creepy," Brendan murmured. "I've seen this movie. You just know this is the part where the alien shows up."

Kim and I glanced to each other, and held our gazes longer than we needed to. "Guess we should keep going?" Kim said brightly.

"Good plan," I agreed. The three of us made our way through the garage and found ourselves staring down a darkened corridor, with doors along the walls and a wide staircase off to the right.

"I guess, through here?" Kim said. "What do you reckon?"

"It's as good a way as any," I said. Kim nodded, and we followed after her.

Keeping silent, we made our way down the dimly-lit corridor, on the look-out for danger and wary of any traps. But we encountered no signs of life at all, and found no clue where the residents of the city were. Half the doors we passed were open but dark, which made everything worse. I glanced into a few and saw labs filled with computers and scientific equipment, offices with desks and chairs, and shadowy corridors that must've led to other parts of the city. I found myself holding my breath with every doorway we passed and every turn the corridor took, but I noticed Brendan and Kim doing the same.

The main hall we were following must've acted like a boulevard, with smaller corridors and stairwells branching off to different parts of the city. Large signs along the walls gave directions in the same alien language we couldn't read, but the silent journey was easy enough without a map. At one point, the three of us passed what couldn't have been anything other than a bar for the city's workers and maintenance crews, with the walls adorned by flags and uniforms of what must've been alien sports teams. The bar was lonely and eerie, but it made me remember something Zordon once said. It turns out that yes, some things really are universal.

"Can you believe this place?" Kim whispered, hesitant to make too much noise.

"I can't believe half an hour ago I was having breakfast and watching Saturday morning cartoons," Brendan said softly.

"I was training," Kim said. "I was kind of glad for the break, actually. I've spent so much time in the gym lately that I've started to have conversations with my pommel horse. Her name's Beatrix, she's lovely," and Brendan giggled.

Finally the three of us stepped through a narrow connecting tunnel into a gigantic room, with the roof high above our heads held up by arching support struts. All around were desks and pollards directing queues with nobody in them, while on either side of the room were enormous doors presumably leading further into the city. Facing us from across the room was a huge window, offering a panoramic view of the stark lunar landscape and Lumelian's interconnected city buildings. But immediately in front of us was a free-standing computer screen that towered over us, with a bank of buttons and switches underneath.

The enormity of the building made the silence even more unnerving. The three of us kept quiet for a minute. No sound registered in any direction, even with our enhanced Ranger senses.

Kimberly leaned down to pick up a stack of papers that had blown onto the floor. "So I'll ask the question," she began, sliding the papers onto a nearby desk. "Where is everybody? There were, what, five hundred and twenty-seven people living here according to Zordon. Where are they all?"

"It's not like they could've ducked outside for some fresh air," said Brendan.

"It's not gonna be much of a search and rescue mission if we can't even find the people we're supposed to be rescuing," Kim added.

"I don't like this," I said softly. "Something bad happened here. Doesn't it feel like we're being watched?"

"Where do we even start?" Brendan asked, and pointed to the window. "It's a big place."

Something Brendan said earlier made me stop and think. No, the citizens couldn't run outside, but where _could_ everybody go, if there was some kind of emergency? "Guys?" I began.

"Look at how large some of these buildings are," Kim replied, turning to Brendan. "Five hundred people could easily be hiding in one of those towers and we wouldn't know until we check them all."

" _Guys_ ," I said again, louder than I intended. My voice echoed through the space, and both Rangers spun to face me. "Just stop for a second," I said. "Look around. We're in a space colony. We're standing in what's obviously an entry hall. How _would_ people leave from a place like this?"

"In the spaceships they all came in," Kimberly realised. "And we passed one of the hangars on the way in, didn't we?"

I pointed to the large doors at the end of the building. "Going by where the hangar was," I began, "I'd say those doors lead straight to them."

"Okay, Brendan and I will check out the hangar bays and find the valet," Kim said. "You stay here and figure out how to plug in that transmitter."

I frowned and glanced to the device I assumed was a computer sitting on top of a nearby desk. It didn't seem to have a keyboard, and most of the casing was transparent. "Um, I don't … I'm not sure how, but okay," I said.

"You're in the blue suit," Kim said, and I could hear the smile beneath her helmet. "You'll think of something. Call us if you need us," and they dashed away.

Leaving me at the desk, the Pink and Aqua Rangers sprinted across the hall. Kim pointed to the closest door and they ran over, Kim hitting the switch to unlock the entryway. The corridor curved away from the other two and ended in a short flight of stairs. With the steps clanging underfoot, the two Rangers climbed to the top and found themselves approaching a large floor-to-ceiling window.

"So what are we hoping for?" Brendan asked.

"All the ships are gone," Kim replied. "Or maybe a line of people boarding the last one who can explain to us what happened here."

But as they reached the window, their faces fell. Down below, a dozen small ships sat lined up in a row, all facing the enormous bay doors. The ships were all different shapes and about the same size as Kim's Phoenix zord or smaller. But the hangar was full, and there were no empty docking spaces. Gazing around the hangar, they soon saw that it was as abandoned as the rest of the city.

Kim sighed. "Well, we can try the other two," she said.

Running back towards the great hall, the two Rangers tried the middle door. This led immediately up a flight of stairs and over a covered walkway, again ending in a wide observation deck. The ships parked in this hangar were larger than the first, but like the first hangar, every space was taken, with no evidence that any of the ships had left recently. The final door led to the third hangar. This hangar was smaller than the first two, but like the others it was full of idle space craft, resting quietly in the shadows and waiting for their crews and passengers to return.

Brendan slumped dejectedly against the railing. "So their spaceships are still here," he began, "but the actual people aren't."

"It tells us one thing," Kim said. "Wherever the citizens are, they're still in Lumelian somewhere. Let's get back to Scotty. Maybe he's had better luck than we've had," and they turned and raced away.

* * *

 _To be continued._


	3. Chapter 3

_Author's notes - Thanks for reading everyone! ChibiDawn - yeah, I guess the 'abandoned space colony' trope features in a lot of good stories, so this is my entry to the genre :). In my past POV stories, the Rangers have explored so many cool locations here on Earth, so in this one, I really wanted them to explore a really cool, alien environment. Anyway, enjoy chapter! 3 :)  
_

* * *

 **Chapter Three**

While Brendan and Kim checked the three hangars, I rested the transmitter on the floor and inspected what I guessed was the computer on the desk. With Lumelian on auxiliary power, I doubted I'd be able to switch it on, and everything with actual words was written in the same alien language we'd been seeing throughout the city. But from all the hours listening to Billy tell us about his computer, I knew there had to be some way of connecting this machine to external hardware. After a few minutes, I found them, odd hexagonal connection points on the underside of the machine. I soon found the right cable on the transmitter and plugged them in.

I stood back, proud of my work, and watched as the lights on the transmitter began flickering when there was a sudden buzzing in my ear. I instinctively brushed the side of my helmet as a fly weaved around me and landed on the desk.

"What the hell?" I asked, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

I heard footsteps approaching and turned to face my team-mates. Startled by the movement, the fly took off from the desk and disappeared into the shadows of the ceiling.

"You okay?" Kim asked. "We heard your voice. We weren't gone too long, were we?"

"No, there was a … fly," I said, and changed the subject. "How'd you go with the spaceship hangars?"

"Bad news," Brendan replied. "They were all full of giant spaceships, but no sign of the crew or passengers. If everyone did leave here in a hurry," and he gestured around the entry hall, "they didn't fly out."

"How'd you go with the transmitter?" asked Kim.

"I figured it out," I said. "In theory, we should be able to contact home," and I raised my wrist. "Zordon? Alpha? It's Scott."

"Scott!" Zordon's voice crackled through after a few seconds. He sounded relieved to hear from us, but his voice was distant and far away, like he was shouting to us from across a crowded room. Great. Like we needed this to be even harder to figure out. "You're coming through loud and clear."

"But you're not," Kim replied. "We can barely hear you."

There was a second of silence. "That can only mean we're moving out of range faster than I thought," Zordon said quickly. "All right Rangers. Where are you?"

"We made it into the grand entry hall," Brendan said.

"Any sign of why the city sent out the distress call?" Zordon asked.

"We're having trouble finding anybody at all," I replied. "We haven't met or seen anyone. It feels like we're the only ones here."

"There's plenty of spaceships still here, so nobody flew out," Kim said. "The city itself isn't damaged, so it can't have been an attack. There's still air and power, but there's no sign of anyone apart from the three of us."

"Well, us and the fly," I added.

"The what?" Zordon asked.

"There was a fly before," I explained quickly. "Should there be insects inside here?"

"Insect-like creatures exist alongside people almost everywhere in the galaxy," Zordon replied. "Aside from food preparation areas, the city has an agricultural section as well as parks, gardens, a variety of animal life and a network of tunnels to deal with waste. If the city really is abandoned, then yes, animals would be able to move freely between buildings. So it wouldn't surprise me, but I doubt you'll see an aggressive infestation. And that still doesn't explain what happened."

I glanced to the transmitter. "Well you're plugged into the city's computer network," I began. "Can you run a scan or something?"

"We're just trying that now," Alpha replied. "But the readings here aren't making any sense. The computer is picking up vague signs of organic beings, but it keeps telling me that it can't detect any lifeforms."

"Maybe it's just glitching as it warms up or something?" Kim offered.

"Possibly," Alpha said.

Looking out the huge observation windows, my eyes settled on the planet suspended in space. "Just how inhospitable is that planet anyway?" I asked. "Has anything ever lived down there?"

"Early on, several robotic probes were launched into the planet's atmosphere," Zordon began. "They found no living beings, but there was evidence of ancient bones, fossilised in the toxic air. They seemed to be the remains of exoskeletons, presumably from animals long dead."

"Does that mean anything?" Kim asked me.

"How often does trouble come from somewhere we don't expect?" I replied. "I thought it might be a clue."

"Something weird is going on here though," said Brendan. "How do five hundred people just vanish into thin air? They can't have disappeared. What about security footage or something? Surely the city has cameras. Can't we just play the footage back?"

"That's not a bad idea," said Kim. "Can Alpha just hack their system or something? Like, switch the city back on by remote?"

"It's not something I would've preferred to do," Zordon replied. "And I doubt the city's ruling council will be pleased with us. But like you said Rangers, it might be the only way to unravel this mystery. Alpha, can we manage it?"

"If only it were that simple," Alpha's voice crackled through. "From the readings here, Lumelian's computer system is elaborate and complicated. Wherever you're plugged in, we simply can't do anything from here. There's too many firewalls and failsafe redundancies."

"That's levels of protection," Zordon added.

"I wish Billy was here," Brendan murmured before he could stop himself.

That stung. "I'm sure if Billy was here, he'd come up with something brilliant," I said sharply. "Zordon, is there anything _we_ can do?"

There was a long pause. Alpha and Zordon must've been figuring out a plan. "The central control room," Zordon eventually replied. "You'll find it on the top floor of Lumelian's central tower. If we were physically closer to the main servers, we might stand a far better chance of gaining access to their system. From there, we should be able to switch the power back on and check the city's security footage."

"Sounds like a plan," Brendan said.

"Keep exploring the city as you go," Zordon continued. "There must be some clue as to what happened."

"Okay, we'll unplug the transmitter and talk to you again soon," Kimberly said, and the communicator fell silent. "Let's go boys."

I reached down and unplugged the transmitter. The three of us made our way over to the windows looking out over the lunar landscape. The central building was indeed the tallest, a round tower rising ten storeys out of a large rectangular building. The spire looked like it was connected to most of the other buildings via overhead passages and narrow walkways.

"What do you reckon?" Kim asked.

"I'd say that's the place," I said. "And it should be easy enough to reach. It looks like it's connected to everything else. Let's go."

We set off again, making our way through the deserted city but constantly on the look-out for any sign of danger. Travelling was easier than I expected. The buildings were wide and airy. Every doorway was open, and we'd already figured out how to open the sealed airlocks. As we travelled, we passed empty meeting halls and darkened scientific labs. At one point, we walked through a gigantic indoor garden, passing long banks of plants I'd never seen before with silver leaves and bright blue flowers. In every building were wall panels with blinking lights, rows of computers, flickering monitors and large windows. We made our way through closed-in courtyards and lonely observation decks, some with seats and tables to enjoy the view, others with telescopes and scientific equipment to _study_ the view. We even stepped over moving walkways now frozen in place, and passed small open-air vehicles parked at odd angles against the walls.

We didn't have time to stop and search every room in every building. Heading through a short, narrow building with lots of windows, we stepped into a wide hall and were surprised to see a cascading water fountain under a domed ceiling. On the left was a boulevard of small shops, selling what looked to be food, clothes and tourist souvenirs, while over on the right? We were facing what couldn't have been anything other than a fancy hotel lobby, complete with glass chandeliers, a bar for guests, and a leafy garden against the far wall. We checked for signs of life and found nothing, before continuing on to the central spire.

It was eerie, though, and I felt less at ease the longer we explored in absolute silence.

* * *

 _The twelve of us materialised in the city, touching down on the street and forming a line across the road. About fifty feet in front of us was Father Time. Behind us stood the city centre, bustling with activity in the mid-morning. The monster alarm hadn't yet sounded, which meant there were a lot of people still around. Seeing us arrive, the monster raised his clock weapon and everybody tensed, ready to leap to safety. Strangely, the monster didn't fire despite having a clear shot, and everybody held their ground._

 _I glanced to the other Rangers. Why didn't he fire?_

" _Rangers!" Father Time called in a deep voice. As we watched, his faces changed, rotating around his head. He was soon addressing us from his second face. This one had a smooth forehead with defined features. It was a boy's face, about my age, but his smile was cruel and predatory, and his eye was narrowed with malice. "The season of your defiance ends today, and Lord Zedd's rule will last an age!"_

" _Great, jokes," murmured Sarah. "He's one of_ those _." Standing beside her, Brendan contrived to look hurt._

" _How do we get to the clock without making ourselves targets?" Kim asked._

" _We work together," Tommy replied, reaching for Saba._

" _And we start with some cover," Jason added. He reached for his blade blaster and aimed for the monster's clock weapon._

 _The monster's eye grew wide, and he clicked his fingers. "Time for some putties!" he shouted. A small army of the stone-faced grey warriors touched down on the street in front of him._

" _Now we don't have a clear shot?" I said._

 _Jason returned the blaster to its holster. "Neither does he," the Red Ranger replied. He stepped forward, his pace increasing to a jog, and the rest of us instinctively followed. "Juniors, clear a path. Seniors, go for the clock!"_

" _Right!"_

 _The street erupted with the sounds of frenzied combat as the six of us younger Rangers charged into the crowd of putties. But as the warriors scattered, the six Senior Rangers raced towards the menacing figure of Father Time. Zac and Kim took to the air, falling towards him with powerful side-by-side kicks. But the monstrous clock was faster than he looked, stepping around Zac and striking Kim away. He spun to face Jason and Tommy, raising his blaster and firing. The two Rangers leaped to safety and the beam caught a palm tree that froze in the breeze behind them. The monster growled in annoyance as Billy and Trini dropped down before him. Dodging their attacks, Father Time lashed out with his blaster and sent the two crashing into a parked car._

 _A young family had been hiding behind the car. No longer safe, they leaped to their feet and sprinted down the street in a blind panic. Trini glanced from the monster to the civilians._

" _Get out of here!" she shouted. "Get inside!"_

 _Billy pointed to a hotel lobby a few metres down the road. "Over there! Go!" he called. But in their moment of distraction, Father Time raised the clock blaster to where they_

 _were standing. In a flash of blue, Billy and Trini were frozen in place._

" _Two down," Father Time said triumphantly._

" _No!" shouted Kim. A few feet away, she and Zac leaped for the monster. But as Father Time turned, he raised his clock weapon and froze the Black and Pink Rangers in their tracks._

 _With the putties defeated, Peter, Sarah and Teresa charged across the street in a desperate dash to get to the clock weapon before Father Time could fire. The monster raised the blaster but Sarah was already there, striking the monster's arm aside and slamming her elbow into his face. Barely fazed, Father Time struck the Purple Ranger back in a shower of sparks. Even as she fell, Peter grabbed at the clock, but the monster dodged around him and sent the Orange Ranger stumbling with a low kick. Before either of them could recover, the monster shone the clock blaster at them and froze them. Teresa saw she was in danger and leaped to safety, only to be frozen a few feet above the ground._

 _The pendulum in the monster's chest glowed blue the entire time._

 _The rest of us regrouped. We closed in on Father Time, approaching from all sides. With no easy target, he spun between the five of us and roared defiantly. Ian leaped forward with a high kick then quickly danced back out of range. A second later, Brendan swung low, diving to safety as I aimed a rapid blow for the monster's stomach. Father Time recovered fast, sending me crashing with a blow from the clock. He spun around as Brendan and Ian attacked again, but a flash of blue froze them in place._

 _Before Father Time could regain his bearings, Jason and Tommy attacked side-by-side, working together to keep him off-balance while steadily wearing him down. Tommy sliced high with Saba, forcing the monster back, while Jason struck his arm away to keep him from a clear shot. Pressing forward, Tommy slashed Saba for Father Time's body, and the monster dropped the clock with a howl of pain. Jason sent the monster crashing with a powerful kick, but as the clock hit the ground it flashed blue one last time. A second later, the Red and White Rangers stood silent._

" _Jason!" I shouted helplessly. "Tommy!"_

 _Picking myself up off the ground, I looked from my frozen team-mates to where the monster was climbing to his feet. In a panic, I dived to safety behind a nearby bus shelter, rolling to a stop and holding my communicator to my helmet._

" _Zordon!" I said. "Zordon, everyone's been captured! What do I do?!"_

* * *

Following a wide hallway beside a moving walkway that now lay idle, the three of us finally stepped into the ground floor of the central tower. We were greeted by a wide gallery with brightly-coloured banners hanging from the ceiling. Immediately to our left was a row of what had to be elevators, while on the right was a sweeping staircase that disappeared into the ceiling. Kim was just about to point to the stairs when she noticed something. Just past the stairs was a wide space filled with tables and chairs. What looked like a bar faced us from the opposite side of the room, while giant floor-to-ceiling observation windows gave diners a sweeping view of the lunar landscape and the starry vista above.

I was about to ask why we'd stopped when I noticed all the tables had plates of food on them. It was the first sign of recent human habitation we'd seen all day.

Brendan noticed as well. "Is that like a restaurant or something?" he asked.

"More like a galley, I guess," I said. "Should we take a look?"

"I think so," Kim replied. "C'mon."

We split up and began quickly sweeping down the aisles. The majority of the tables held half-eaten meals with drinks that were half-empty. Reaching down, I gently touched a piece of well-cooked steak.

"The food's cold," I said. "Whatever happened here, it happened a while ago."

"But it was quick," Kim said. "Look at it. They were halfway through lunch."

We continued exploring the room. Kim vaulted the bar to check the kitchen, while I reached the end of the aisle and turned to the panoramic window. I was about to look away when I caught sight of my reflection in the glass, the Blue Ranger small against the infinite black of space with millions of stars behind him. Billy once told me that the stars we actually see are only a fraction of the true number of stars in the galaxy. There were thousands, maybe millions more, but their light hasn't reached us yet. I didn't recognise any of the constellations from here, but there were so many more stars than the ones visible from our backyard in Currimundi. The thought of home being so far away made me sigh. A few aisles away, Brendan looked up.

"You okay?" the Aqua Ranger asked, and stepped towards me. "We'll figure this out dude, don't worry about it. I'm sure nothing really bad has happened yet."

"It's not that," I said. "I was thinking, the Universe is just so big. Sometimes it's too big. Do you ever feel like it's just, I don't know, hopeless?"

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"There's always something horrible around the next corner," I said. "It's like, the twelve of us show up to fix things, but they never actually stay fixed. It's a hopeless task."

Brendan looked away, not sure how to respond. "Dude, I had no idea this was getting to you so much," he said finally.

"Me either, to be honest," I said.

Brendan frowned behind his helmet. "Do you think the Rangers don't matter?"

I shook my head. "Not at all," I said. "I get that we're important, I know why Zordon gave us our Power Coins."

He supplied the next, obvious word. "But…?"

"But do you ever feel like we don't make much of a difference in the long run?" I asked. "Whatever horrible thing happened here, we'll deal with this, and then some other horrible thing will show up, and then some _other_ horrible thing will show up, and when does it ever stop? Is that all that life is? A never-ending series of disasters?"

I looked away. Brendan didn't reply for a long time, and I figured he was coming up with his next punchline. But he raised his gloved hand and rested it awkwardly on my shoulder.

"I guess I don't think about it like that," he said. "See, for me?" And when he spoke next, I heard a tone in his voice I'd never heard before. "Whenever Alpha and Zordon send us into battle, it's all about finding the bad guy and stopping them. Helping people who are lost. Standing up for the little guy. And maybe you're right, you know, of course you're right. Maybe there's always gonna be some new jerk out there who wants to hurt people. But for everyone we protect, for every person we save? I like to think it makes all the difference in the world." Brendan turned to meet my gaze. "Does that make sense?"

"Yeah," I said softly. "I guess it does. That's a good way of looking at it."

Brendan was about to continue when Kimberly joined us. "Boys?" she began. "I didn't find any clues in the kitchen. Let's keep going."

I shook my head to clear my thoughts, and Brendan and I turned after the Pink Ranger. "Sorry," I said. "Right behind you," and we jogged after her, leaving the deserted galley behind us.

* * *

 _To be continued._


	4. Chapter 4

_Author's notes - Sorry about the delay, I was unexpectedly away from my computer last night. Anyway, we're back on track! Wow, Whitebeard, hey! Good to see you again :). ChibiDawn, I guess great minds think alike! :) Given Scott's more innocent worldview, I thought it'd be really interesting to look through his eyes and hear first-hand what it's like for these kids, dealing with a constant stream of never-ending disasters. Look back to Brendan's first words to Zordon when they arrive in the Command Centre. "What are we killing today?" Rangers have knowledge and skills that teenagers just should not have. And yeah, I think that's a really interesting thing to explore. Every person in a stressful job has to learn how to cope when things get tough, and superheroes wouldn't be any different. Anyway, into chapter four! Where things get remarkably_ worse _... :)_

* * *

 **Chapter Four**

With the prospect of finally getting some answers, or at the very least finding somebody we could ask, the three of us bounded up ten flights of stairs towards the central control room. At every floor we passed, Kimberly shouted, "Hello!" as we raced around the corner, but the tower seemed to be as empty as the rest of the city. Reaching the top floor, Kimberly stepped onto the landing, but as Brendan and I followed, the Pink Ranger skidded to a sudden stop.

"Uh, guys?" she began, and I heard a tone in her voice I didn't like. "I've found an answer, but it's not one you're going to like."

Brendan and I glanced worriedly to each other and reached the top floor with a burst of energy, following Kim through a pair of heavily-armoured doors.

"Damn it," I said.

This had gotten a thousand times worse.

The room was trashed. The windows and walls were still in one piece, but nothing else was. Rows upon rows of computer monitors had been smashed to pieces. Chairs were on their side, tables and desks had been flipped over, and shattered pieces of wreckage littered the carpet from one side of the room to the other. Lights had fallen from their fittings along the roof and hung at weird angles, while support posts holding up the ceiling had been violently ripped down. The destruction was almost total. My heart sank.

"What the hell happened here?" I asked.

"Look at this mess," Brendan murmured, gazing around the room in disbelief. "What did this?"

"Not what," Kimberly replied. "Who."

"Kim's right," I said. "If this is the only room that's been destroyed in the whole city? This wasn't an accident. This was sabotage."

"Look at the scorch marks on the walls," Kim said, and tapped her blade blaster. "It looks exactly like what happens when we shoot at things."

Brendan pointed to a giant metal girder that had been rammed through a map of the city hanging on the wall. "And I doubt that was the wind," he said.

"So this wasn't an accident," I said. "Whatever happened to the people of Lumelian, they aren't missing."

"They were kidnapped," Kim finished.

"And whoever did it smashed up the control room to cover their tracks," I added.

"So what do we do now?" Brendan asked. "How do we even contact Zordon and Alpha? We're right back to square one."

We split up to explore the room, our boots crunching the charred wreckage underfoot. My mind was racing through a hundred different scenarios, each one worse than the one before. But there was something strange about this whole case. I'd watched the Senior Rangers for two and a half years now. There was something they always did when they were confronted by a particularly thorny mystery, and it was something we needed to do right now.

Ask the big question first.

"So here's the thing. How do you kidnap five hundred people in one go?" I began. "Lumelian's a big place. Even if you went room-to-room, someone would've raised the alarm or gotten away to warn everyone else."

Brendan turned to me. "Are you even sure they're still alive?" he asked.

I met his gaze and couldn't reply for a second, until I realised the simple truth. "They have to be," I said. "If there had been a violent attack on the city, where's the damage? And if anything had happened, where are the bodies? Whoever attacked the city could've easily just killed everybody, but they didn't. That means they didn't want to."

"So they were taken for a reason?" Kim asked.

"Wherever they are, they're still alive," I said. "I'm sure of it. That might not be a good thing in the long run."

"But it's better than the alternative," said Brendan. "What about a mass teleport? We disappear from locked rooms all the time."

"The city's shielded, remember?" Kim asked.

"Not to mention, even the computers in the Command Centre would have trouble teleporting five hundred people at once," I said. "And that would take so much energy that Zordon and Alpha would've spotted it anyway."

Spotting a row of lockers against the far wall, Brendan made his way over, finding them locked shut with solid padlocks. They may have been strong, but they were no match for augmented Ranger strength, and he tore the first door open, revealing a cupboard filled with brooms and cleaning supplies.

"Brendan, what are you doing?" I asked.

He glanced over his shoulder as he tried the next locker, but it was full of stationary supplies. "What do people do everywhere in case something breaks?" he asked. The third door was blocked by an overturned table, but he quickly threw it aside. "They keep spares," and he pulled open the third door.

Staring back at us was a pile of undamaged computer equipment.

I smiled under my helmet. "Okay, we can rig something up that works," I said. "We need to get everything out of there so we can see what we're dealing with."

Kim dashed across the room to help Brendan, while I swept my gaze around the room with fresh eyes. Most of the computer cases had been shattered, but on the far side of the room, there was one table still standing, and the computer looked like it had suffered slightly less damage than most of the others. I raced over. The cables from the back of the machine led to a row of connection ports along the floor. The wires were torn and broken, but thanks to their colours, I could see where everything was supposed to connect. And underneath the machine were the same hexagonal indentations I'd seen on the computer in the entry hall.

Kimberly and Brendan dragged everything from the storage cupboard over towards me, and Kim swept the debris from the table onto the floor.

"It's not like I'm making a bigger mess," she said. "Can you get this switched on?"

"I'm wearing the blue suit, aren't I?" I asked. "I'll figure something out."

The computer was a dusty, older version of the cases lying in pieces around us, but the connection ports along the outside looked to be the same. Sorting the bundle of cables that Brendan dropped on the floor, I found the cables I needed and plugged the computer into one of the undamaged ports along the floor. Setting the transmitter next to the machine, I connected the two and held my breath, hoping I was right. Then, the transmitter began lighting up, and I let out a sigh of relief. It'd worked.

Brendan clapped me on the shoulder. "Dude, that was awesome," he said.

"Zordon, you there?" Kim asked, raising her communicator.

"Yes Rangers, we're here," came the reply. I glanced worriedly to my team-mates. Zordon's voice was so faint that even with our Ranger senses, we could barely hear him.

"Bad news," Kim continued. "We found the control room but it's been trashed. Something destroyed it."

"Right now we're thinking that somebody actually attacked the city," I added. "But there's no damage to any of the buildings aside from here, and we still haven't found any sign of the city's residents."

"What about the transmitter?" Brendan asked. "Can you switch the city back on? Get into their system and find the security footage?"

"There's good news on that front," our mentor replied. "From the data we're receiving, Rangers, the plan worked. Alpha's just getting us into Lumelian's computer network now. It might take a few minutes, but we're almost out of range. We'll work as fast as we can."

"Finally, some answers," Kimberly said. "Meanwhile, if that doesn't work, our only option is a manual search of every building."

"And here's a thought," I began. "What if whoever did this is still here?"

Across the room, Brendan wandered over to the window overlooking the city below. Sweeping his gaze across the landscape, his eyes drifted to the hotel that we'd passed before, and he remembered the water fountain in the lobby. His eyes went wide.

"I've got it!" he shouted, and spun back to face us. "The Joker!"

"Uh, Brendan? He usually attacks Gotham City," I said. "And I don't think kidnapping five hundred people is really his style."

"No, not that," Brendan said. "Look, I was watching a cartoon the other day, and the Joker planned to dump toxic waste into Gotham City's dam so that he'd poison the whole city at once. Think about it. Even if you don't like your dinner, everyone drinks water, right? Whoever our villain is, what if they did something to the city's water supply?"

I turned to Kim. "Brendan, that's brilliant," I said.

The Pink Ranger held up a hand. "Wait a second though," she said. "Not everyone drinks water at the same rate. People would've gotten sick at different times. It wouldn't have been enough to take out five hundred people in seconds."

"Maybe not, but it's the right idea," I said, and pointed to an air vent in the ceiling. "What about the air? If there was something in the air, it would've happened really quickly, and we wouldn't have noticed thanks to our helmets," and I raised my communicator. "Alpha, now that we're inside, is it possible to scan the atmosphere in here?"

"Possibly, just give me a minute," Alpha replied, then spoke again a few seconds later. "The computer's picking up unidentified particles in trace amounts. It wouldn't be enough to hurt anyone, but a concentrated dose delivered to the entire population at once? That would do it."

"Okay, so next question," I said. "How do you get five hundred people in the one room to knock them all out in one go?" I looked across the room to the tattered map of the city. Glancing around the diagram, an idea drifted to the surface. "You force them to. Alpha, where are you on accessing the city's computer network?"

"We're about seventy-five percent through the process," Alpha replied.

"What are you thinking?" Kim asked.

I gestured to the window. "The city's built in such a hostile location that I doubt it's going to have just a single control station for emergencies and disasters."

"Yeah," Brendan agreed. "What if something happened to the control tower?"

"Scott you're right!" Alpha replied. His voice was so faint, we had to strain to hear him. "According to the schematics, there's a secondary disaster control room, located on sub-level two in building four. The thin building with the flat roof."

Kim pointed out the window. "That's the one down there!" she said.

"Let's go," I said.

Leaving the transmitter in the control room, we raced out to the stairs.

"How is this gonna help us find the missing people?" Brendan asked.

We reached the ground floor. "Remember last week at school?" I began. "For the start of the semester, they had a fire drill. We had to evacuate all the classrooms and meet down on the sports oval."

"Faking an emergency would be a great way to move people around the city," Kim nodded.

"And if we know where they went, we might be able to follow them," I finished.

Reaching building four, we found a wide stairwell and followed it to the second basement. Making our way down a dimly-lit corridor, we stepped into a large room at the edge of the building. On one side of us was a wall of computer monitors, while on the other side were lockers and work benches. One of the lockers was hanging open, with breathing apparatus and what looked like one of those special radiation-proof suits hanging inside. Facing us across the room, though, were large crates stacked haphazardly against the wall, and they looked out of place against the ordered neatness of the rest of the space.

Kim raised her communicator. "Alpha, we're here," she said. "How'd you go?"

"Access granted! We're in!" Alpha's voice crackled through. But he sounded faint and crackly. We were losing the Command Centre.

"We're just attempting to reboot the city's systems," Zordon said. "This might take a few minutes."

"It's time we don't have," I said. "Can you start with the programs that deal with disaster protocols and emergencies?" Outside, I saw the lights in the hallway switching back on. I nodded to myself. Zordon and Alpha had somehow worked a minor miracle and given us our first real break. "Can you show us a map of the city?"

"You got it," Alpha replied.

The three of us turned to the wall of screens, but censors on the control panel lit up and a holographic map of Lumelian flashed to life before us. The three of us quickly jumped out of the way.

"Wow, wasn't expecting that," Brendan said.

"Were the fire alarms triggered recently?" I asked.

"Affirmative," Alpha replied.

Kim turned to me. "Looks like you were right."

"Can you replay what order the alarms were triggered in?" Brendan asked.

"But slowly," I added, "so that we can see where the citizens were directed."

As we watched, the top floors of the tallest buildings glowed red, then ten seconds later, the outer-most buildings began glowing the same colour. Then the lower floors glowed, then the floors below them. At ground level, the glow began spreading from the furthest buildings, closer and closer towards the centre of the city.

"Look at that," Brendan said softly.

"The people were evacuating to escape a fire, but they being herded like cattle," Kim said. "With all the chaos from the false emergency, nobody would've figured out what was really going on."

"But where did they go?" Brendan asked.

Kimberly watched as the buildings continued turning red. "I'm not sure, it hasn't gotten to the end yet."

I looked back to the crates across the room. "It means that whoever kidnapped the city's population had access to the computer system," I said. "That would require some pretty advanced tech."

"The city's protected though," Kimberly said.

"But we got in," I said. Something wasn't right here. I crossed the room towards the crates. "I mean, Lumelian's so well protected that the only way to do that," and I shoved the crates across the floor with a metallic squeal, "would be to have access to this room. Oh no."

Kim and Brendan turned to see what I'd found. "Wait, is that…?" began Brendan.

Facing us was a hole in the wall that led to a dark tunnel. Something had carved or melted its way through the thick metal foundations and into the city itself, blocking the gap with the heavy crates and clearly not expecting someone with super-strength to investigate. I peered closer. The tunnel sloped into the rock away from the building. The light only lit up the tunnel for a few metres, and beyond that was pitch darkness. The tunnel was about two metres high and wide enough for a person to travel comfortably, about the size of the upstairs hallway in my house.

"Whoever we're dealing with," I began, "this is how they got in to trigger the emergency system."

"Be careful," Kimberly said. "We don't know who made that."

"Do you think the people are down there?" Brendan asked.

"I can't hear them," I said, then held still. "I can hear something though. It's like a, it almost sounds like … buzzing."

 _Which is when a fourth voice echoed into the room._

"The arrogance of you humanszzz."

I spun around at the buzzing voice, while Kimberly and Brendan were back-to-back in a second. Brendan raised his hands and his twin Power Sai formed in a flash of aqua light.

"Who are you?" Kim asked.

Whoever was speaking took no notice. "You show up, presszzz a few buttonszzz and assume you're in control." The voice was strange, and it seemed to be coming from everywhere at once. It was scratchy, like listening to Rita at full volume, but it also had a weird metallic clang to it, as if a swarm of locusts was talking with Alpha's voice.

"But I can szzzee you. You are not the humanszzz we expected, but humanszzz nonethelesszzz. Great clumsy thingszzz. You swat aside anything szzzmaller than yourselveszzz without a second thought. Did you know there are insectszzz on every planet in the galaxy where there are people? Trillionszzz and trillionszzz of them. If we ever acted as one, the human race would be over in a second! And then we would take our rightful place as rulerszzz of the galaxy!"

"Who is 'we'?" Kim asked. "Who are you talking about? And where are those people you took?"

"Come and get them," the voice replied.

I turned to the cave. "They must be down there!" I shouted. "C'mon!" I charged into the tunnel, reaching for my blade blaster as I ran.

"Scott, no!" Kim shouted. "It could be a…!"

She hadn't even finished the sentence when the first bomb triggered. It went off like an Ultrazord blast, lifting me off my feet and slamming me into the cave wall. I crashed to the ground, dazed but unhurt, when the tunnel shook with a second explosion, rapidly followed by a third and fourth. In the control room, Kim and Brendan were thrown back through the wall, destroying the computers in a blaze of fire before the roof caved in around them. Back in the cave, I could only watch helplessly as the cavern collapsed around me. The floor cracked and gave way, and with a great roar of broken rock, I was swallowed up by the darkness in an avalanche of stone.

* * *

 _To be continued._


	5. Chapter 5

_Author's notes - ChibiDawn, yeah, that line was pay-off to an earlier joke about Scott_ also _wearing a blue suit. Billy's such an amazing guy that I imagine he'd cast a really long shadow, even in stories that he's not even in, so Scott would naturally feel that comparison (and he mentions that a couple of times in this story. Billy also talks about that briefly in his own story_ Heart and Mind _). And the thing about Scott is that he_ is _a really smart guy, but the other Rangers haven't quite realised it yet (although they are getting there, and both Brendan and Kim figure that out here). Anyway, enjoy chapter 5! :)_ _  
_

* * *

 **Chapter Five**

With the cloud of dust and debris clearing, Kimberly took a moment to shake her head and regain her senses. One of the computer mainframes had fallen on her and was wedged in place thanks to several twisted girders. Taking a breath, Kim punched the girders free then threw the computer away, where it crashed to the floor on the other side of the room. Climbing to her feet, she slipped for a second on the wreckage under her boots, then glanced around. Her face fell behind her helmet.

Brendan had been right beside her when the roof caved in, but the Aqua Ranger was nowhere in sight.

"Brendan!" she shouted.

"Here," came the weak reply.

Kim turned to see a white glove emerging from behind a fallen piece of the wall. She quickly climbed towards him.

"Are you hurt?" she asked.

"I'm fine, I think," he replied. "I'm kinda jammed in here though. I don't wanna teleport out if I can help it."

"Hang on, I'm almost there."

Reaching his side, Kim braced herself against the floor and pushed the wall section free, giving Brendan enough leverage to pull himself clear. Once Brendan was safe, Kim let the wall fall, and the two Rangers stood up. Offering Brendan a hand, Kim helped the younger Ranger climb free of the debris, before they stopped and gazed around the room. The place had been totally destroyed. On the side with the tunnel, the roof had caved in, leaving a maze of twisted metal jammed tightly in place.

Brendan's eyes went wide. "Where's Scott?" he asked. "Scott!"

Kim turned to the wall, realisation turning to dread. "He was in the tunnel when the bombs went off," she said.

"Oh crap," Brendan said. "C'mon, help me get him out of there! Hold on man, we're coming!" Sliding on the wreckage, Brendan charged across the room to where the tunnel entrance had been, throwing away pieces of debris as he went. Kim immediately went to join him, but heard the floor groaning ominously beneath them. Over the noise of Brendan digging was the squeal of metal straining to support the weight of the wreckage. She grabbed Brendan's shoulders.

"Wait, stop!" she said.

"No, we have to rescue Scott!" Brendan shouted. He was breathless and panting, and a sharp intake of breath made Kim pause. Was he crying?

"We can't," Kim replied. "Listen to the floor! If we go tearing into that, the whole room might collapse! Or we might fall into the cave below and get trapped too. There's too many people counting on us. We can't risk it."

Brendan deflated, and kicked at a piece of rubble. "But what if he's in trouble?" he asked. "What if he demorphed?"

"That's exactly the reason we need to be careful," Kim said. "What if the hostages are down there too? If we bring the roof down on everybody's heads, that's not gonna help anyone."

"Okay," Brendan said softly. "You're right. He's a smart guy."

"Yeah, he is," Kim nodded. "Which means he'll be okay for a little while. But we need to find another way down there. Think about it. That tunnel was really narrow. If you were kidnapping five hundred people in a hurry, would you really use a tiny little crawl space like that?"

"No," Brendan said. "I wouldn't."

"There's definitely another entrance, somewhere in the city," Kim continued. "It'll be large, too. We just need to find it," and she raised her communicator. "Zordon? There was an explosion, but I think we've figured out where everybody is." Nothing but static blared forth from the communicator. Kim frowned. "Alpha? Zordon?" But there was no reply.

Brendan tried as well. "Zordon?" he asked, his voice shaky.

"It won't do any good," she realised. "We've lost them. The planet's moved out of range."

"So Scott's missing and now we're on our own?" Brendan asked.

"C'mon, we can do this," Kim said. They made their way out of the collapsed room and into the hallway. "What did Scott say before?" the Pink Ranger continued. "Whoever attacked the city wanted those people alive."

"But how does that help us find them?" Brendan asked.

Kim pointed to an air vent above their heads. "What do human beings need to live?" she asked. "Oxygen and heat. And where's the only place on this whole entire moon that has those two things?"

"Here in the city," Brendan nodded.

"Exactly," Kim said. "We don't have any way to track the oxygen or air flow, but think about it. Lumelian's been abandoned for hours now. Nobody's using any power. So if someone has tapped into the power grid to keep the hostages alive, we should be able to track it."

"Like a big neon sign," Brendan said. "Literally. But how though? We've lost Alpha and Zordon," and he gestured to a bank of keyboards on the wall behind them. "And neither of us knows how to use the system. I couldn't even guess."

"But before we lost contact, they did it," Kim said. "They switched the computer network back on. We just need to find a computer we can use."

"Yeah?" Brendan asked.

"Yeah," Kim said. "And I've got an idea about that. C'mon," and they raced back towards the surface.

* * *

 _I crouched behind the bus shelter, waiting for the attack from Father Time that never came. The street was still, and aside from my heart pounding like a drum and the distant roar of the ocean, there was silence. One minute passed, and then another. The monster had seen where I'd fallen, and he can't have been too badly injured. Why wasn't he attacking me?_

 _I raised my communicator. "Zordon," I whispered, "I've lost sight of the monster. Can you see him?"_

" _Negative," came the reply. "We can see_ you _, but there's too much temporal distortion, it's affecting our sensors. Father Time must be drawing a lot of power to enact his plan."_

 _I peeked around the corner. All around were my flickering team-mates, frozen in split-seconds. But there on the ground in the middle of the street was the damaged clock blaster, throwing off showers of sparks every few seconds. The monster was nowhere in sight._

 _I ducked back behind the bus stop. "Zordon, I can see the clock blaster in the middle of the road," I said, "but the monster must be hiding or something."_

" _It must be a trap to draw you out of hiding," Zordon replied._

 _I tilted my head. "Why though?" I asked, thinking out loud. "The monster has four faces and can see in every direction. He doesn't need to draw me into a trap." I remembered how the weapon had fired by itself even after it had fallen from the monster's grasp. "Hold on, I'm gonna try something."_

 _I scooped up some gravel from the ground and lightly threw it onto the road. As it skittered past the fallen blaster, the weapon fired automatically. The stones stayed frozen in mid-air._

Bingo.

" _Zordon, we were wrong," I said quickly. "We thought the monster was the trap, but it wasn't._ The clock was. _Zedd knew we'd go straight for the clock to disable it, so he must've told Finster to build in some kind of motion-sensor. Anyone going near the clock would get caught automatically."_

" _Scott, you must be right!"_

" _As for the power source," I continued, "every time the weapon fired, the pendulum in the monster's chest glowed the same colour. That's the key. If I can take out the pendulum, it'll shut this whole thing down."_

" _Agreed," Zordon said. "If the pendulum is the power source, disabling that will negate the monster's spell. Good luck Scott."_

 _I stepped out from behind the other side of the bus shelter, keeping a wide distance between myself and the clock blaster. As I stepped onto the street, Father Time emerged from behind a stand of palm trees opposite. His face had changed again. Now he was gazing at me with the battle-hardened grimace of a warrior or soldier. His face was scarred and dented, with several teeth missing and deep creases in his forehead._

 _The two of us approached the centre of the road, keeping as far away from the clock blaster as we could. "So you've figured out my trap?" Father Time asked._

" _It was a good one," I said. "But now it's just you and me. And I'm not scared of you."_

 _Father Time held his arms wide, and two bladed clock hands appeared in his hands. "Good for you," he said, raising the swords as he closed in. "But trust me, little boy blue. Your time is up!"_

 _He fell towards me. "Power Staff!" I shouted. The weapon materialised in a flash of blue light, and I caught the descending blades in a shower of sparks._

* * *

With a pained groan, I opened my eyes.

I want to say that it was my sense of danger that woke me up. But actually, it was the sharp pain in the back of my head. It was like the base of my skull was being attacked by someone with a tiny jackhammer. As I came to my senses, I could feel my whole body aching. There was cool rock beneath me, and twisted pieces of debris were poking into me from all sides. It didn't hurt too badly, though, so I must've been okay, at least for the moment. Testing my joints, I raised my hand to my head, and felt my sweaty forehead and tangled hair beneath my fingertips.

I blinked.

Oh no.

I'd demorphed.

I pulled back in a moment of panic, swinging my hands out for anything to help pull me to my feet. If I moved fast, I could sprint back to the safety of the city. Hyperventilating, all I accomplished was slicing my hand open on a sharp piece of wreckage somewhere nearby, hidden in the darkness. Yet somehow through my panic, with my lungs burning and my heart pounding, a simple question came to mind.

How was I still breathing?

Stop. Think. If I was outside the city, I would've already run out of oxygen. I wouldn't be able to breathe at all. Wherever I'd landed, it was somehow connected to Lumelian above me, still warm and still with fresh air. Keeping my eyes closed, I remembered advice my mother had once given me in a stressful moment. Stay calm. Control your breathing. I tried to think of anything I could to slow my heart-rate. My friends, my Power Coin, Zordon's deep scary voice. I remembered the first time I'd morphed, and then the first time I'd sat inside my Brontozord. And then I remembered how comfortable the seat always was. At that, I chuckled softly in the darkness.

With my heart-beat back to normal, I opened my eyes and gazed around to get my bearings. Pitch black. That wasn't good. Keeping calm, I felt for my morpher and my Power Coin, letting out a sigh of relief when I found them where they should be. My brain caught up to the last few minutes and I realised I'd demorphed in the explosion, right after the cave collapsed on my head. The blast must've been huge. It usually takes a lot of force to drop us out of our morphs. I must've fallen a long way, too. Whoever had tunnelled into the city had booby-trapped the cave behind them so they couldn't be followed.

But they weren't counting on a morphed Power Ranger, were they?

Even more grateful for Zordon and Alpha's forward planning, I raised my wrist to my mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Guys, you there?" I asked. "Kimberly? Brendan?"

There was nothing but static. Great. Either the communicator had been damaged by the fall, or more likely, I was so far underground that it wasn't working. Which meant that I probably couldn't teleport to safety. But I realised a second later that I didn't want to. Brendan and Kimberly were somewhere above me, and if I knew one thing, it was that my friends were trying to find a way down here. Which meant that help was on the way, sooner rather than later. More importantly, the five hundred people from the city were down here somewhere as well. Where else could they be? I was their best chance. Then, the next thought hit me. Whoever planned all this? They were down here too. And they thought I'd been killed in the cave-in.

I smiled in the darkness.

Yeah. That'd work.

Wary of my injuries and the shattered wreckage around me, I carefully climbed to my feet. I was bleeding from more than a few scrapes, and my knee was a bit sore, but other than that I was okay. Looking around, I realised I'd been down here long enough for my eyes to adjust to the darkness. A few metres up ahead, I could see a faint shadow. The tunnel! It must've kept going away from the city. It looked to be wide enough for me to follow, and even better, there wasn't much gravel underfoot.

As quietly as I could, I stepped towards the tunnel and began following it.

* * *

Back in Lumelian, Kimberly and Brendan raced through the deserted city towards the grand entry hall, their footsteps echoing through the otherwise quiet corridors. As they ran, they could see lights and screens switching on around them.

"I hope you know where you're going," Brendan panted as they ran. "Scott's been down there for a while now."

Kim gestured to the rooms they were passing. "Look around," she said. "It's like Billy's computer when he switches it on. Everything's powering up, system by system." Glancing out the windows, they could see the city's exterior lights switching on one-by-one. "Which means all we need to do is what Scott always does," she continued. "What he's been doing all day now."

"And what's that?" Brendan asked.

Kim met the Aqua Ranger's gaze. "Ask the right questions."

Reaching the end of the corridor, the entry hall opened out before them. Across the room was the tall computer screen standing by itself.

Kim nodded. "And I've been in enough shopping malls to know exactly what a, 'You are here' sign looks like," she said. "C'mon."

Kim crossed towards the giant screen, standing before it as Brendan followed after her. At first, her heart sank. The screen was blank. But as she gazed over the screen, she noticed a blinking cursor in the bottom corner, and smiled with relief behind her visor.

"Computer!" Kim began. "Activate! Or something!"

The screen flickered once, and a shimmering image began to take form. The figure was decidedly feminine, with graceful lines and long billowing hair as if caught in a summer breeze. Kim shook her head with a wry smile. Of course the greeting program was a beautiful woman. Why wouldn't it be?

Turning to the two people before her, the figure began speaking. The first few sentences were in an alien language that neither of them understood, although to Kim's ears it sounded vaguely Spanish or Italian. But both Rangers blinked when the next few words were in perfect English.

"Language detected, English from planet designated Earth," the computer said.

Brendan forgot himself for a second. "Wow," he said. "That's impressive."

The figure turned to him. "I'm programmed to recognise and respond in over two thousand…"

Kim raised her hand. "Save it sister," she said quickly. "This is an emergency. The entire population of Lumelian is missing and we're guessing they've been kidnapped by some very bad dudes. One of our friends is missing too. You're talking to the Pink and Aqua Power Rangers from Earth. We're here on a search and rescue mission. We need full access to your databanks."

The figure blinked and faded from the screen. Kim guessed she was checking to see if the city really was abandoned. After a few seconds, the figure returned and looked down to the Pink Ranger.

"Input the proper code to verify your authority," the program droned.

In a flash of pink light, Kimberly summoned her Power Bow with a thought.

The figure blinked. "Authority verified," and she added quickly, "how may I be of assistance?"

Brendan let out the breath he'd been holding. "Damn," he said.

"I'm assuming the city's security cameras are offline? And have been for hours?" Kim asked.

The figure nodded. "That is affirmative, yes."

"I figured," Kim said. "Okay. Keep sending out the SOS signal, but we need to see the power grid of the city, right now."

"Yeah, we're looking for strange power surges or something," Brendan added.

A schematic of Lumelian appeared onscreen with red lines indicating the power flowing through the city. Kim swept her eyes over the map, and found what she was looking for a second later. "The top corner," she began. "Do you see it?"

"Yeah, I do," Brendan nodded. "There's a huge amount of power flowing past that section there, but there's no 'there' there. Computer, what's the room in the top right corner?"

"In your terminology, Rangers," the program replied, "that is starship hangar six. It's currently empty, although yes, I am detecting odd fluctuations of temperature and power usage. Shall I run a diagnostic?"

"That hanger, is that an evacuation point in the event of an emergency?" Kim asked.

"Affirmative," the computer replied. "I do not understand. Is that relevant?"

Kim turned to Brendan. "More than you think," she said. "Tell us how to get there. **Now**!"

* * *

 _To be continued._


	6. Chapter 6

_Author's notes - Thanks for reading everybody!  
_

* * *

 **Chapter Six**

I'm not sure how long I followed the shadowy tunnel. It was hard to even guess at any kind of distance down here. At any rate, it felt like I'd been walking for hours, so I could've been kilometres from the city. I didn't meet anybody, and the cave didn't fork at any point. But the further I went, I began to notice more and more light. Eventually, the tunnel started to widen and sound began to reach me, echoing back from somewhere ahead. It was the oddest noise, like metal scraping against stone, and I couldn't imagine what was making it. Far more cautiously now, I crept along the tunnel and suddenly picked up a second noise. A buzzing, like a swarm of bees or locusts, but with a weird electronic filter like before. Ahead of me, the tunnel was lit up. Keeping out of sight, I peeked around the corner.

Oh wow.

The tunnel opened out into a massive cavern. The rocky ceiling was about three or four storeys above my head, held up by thick metal girders. There were no lights, but the cave was lined with large pieces of a glowing amber-like substance that pulsed a sickly green, throwing eerie shadows throughout the space. More metal scaffolding braced the cave walls on all sides. Facing me across the cavern were rows and rows of green pods, with dark shapes visible within.

I took a step towards them when the ground suddenly shook, and a giant spider scuttled past. It was the size of a bus with legs as thick as tree trunks, and I dived back into the tunnel. But as I held my breath, my heart racing, I realised the creature hadn't seen me, and it continued past without stopping.

Whatever it was, the beast was a spider in name only. Its body was covered by fitted plates of thick metal armour that glinted in the low light. Eight red eyes glowed menacingly on top of its head above a pair of jagged metal pincers. Whether it was robotic or some part of it was alive under there, I couldn't tell. But whoever was behind all this had some serious muscle backing them up.

I watched as the cybernetic spider vanished into a large hole in the wall that must've led to a second cave. Checking there were no more spiders, I dashed after the creature, stopping by the cave entrance. The second cave was even larger, and also filled with the strange glowing rock. But as the spider disappeared from view, my breath caught in my throat. There wasn't just one spider but dozens, lined up against the wall with their legs tucked beneath them. Across from them were even larger animals, creatures that looked like nothing so much as giant praying mantises, with red eyes, green bodies and razor sharp talons. There were a dozen that I could see, possibly more behind. Hanging from the ceiling were wasps the size of fighter jets, with transparent green wings and spiked tails curving down under their bodies. None of them were moving beyond the occasional twitch, but the soft buzzing was producing a dull ache in the side of my head. From long experience with alien superweapons, I recognised blasters and missiles the second I saw them. Every single one of the creatures was bristling with weaponry.

I heard a mechanical clanking above my head, and I watched as two solid metal panels dropped to the floor, reaching the ground and sealing shut with a hiss. I frowned. That was an airlock. Whoever's in control of all those giant insects, they wanted to keep an atmosphere in _this_ cave. Why?

Because the people from Lumelian were here somewhere. And for the moment, that meant they were safe.

Across from me were the green pods, hundreds of them pushed up against the rocky walls. A narrow pathway wound between the rows, disappearing into the shadows at the back of the cave. Moving as quietly as I could, I ducked across the cave towards them. They were oval-shaped, about four-feet tall and made of what looked like a brittle, organic material. Even as I approached them, I knew they were eggs, with thin tubes connecting them along the ground. I stepped closer and my foot slid out from under me, slipping on some kind of green slime that coated the ground. Catching my balance, I looked back to the eggs to confirm my suspicions, peering in as close as I could.

Yep. There was something inside each of them.

The creatures were human-sized and vaguely human-shaped, with two arms and two legs. But that's where the similarities stopped. Their faces were protected by plates of armoured bone. A few of them had some kind of metal plating on their chests and shoulders, with what looked like extendable metal talons on their wrists. Each of them had four dark eyes, two on either side of their heads. Their mouths were protected behind crunching mandibles with rows of jagged teeth. None of them looked friendly. I stepped back fearfully. All of these similar-looking creatures lined up in rows like this? They reminded me of putties. And I suddenly realised what I'd stumbled into.

These drones were being bred to conquer and destroy. This couldn't have been anything else. This was an army.

I had to warn the other Rangers. More importantly, I had to find the missing people.

Stepping away from the pods, I turned to the far side of the cavern when I caught sight of one of the nearest rows of eggs, hidden in shadow over to the left. I stepped back in shock.

Six of the pods had already hatched.

* * *

 _I struck Father Time's clock blades back and followed him across the street, swinging high. He batted my staff away and retaliated with a wide slash, but I stepped around the move and blocked a low swipe when he swung again. Forcing him back with a jump kick, I caught a blow from the right, parried an attack from the left and struck him across the face. He staggered back, swinging wildly. But he was stunned, and the moves were slow and clumsy. Keeping the blades at a distance, I landed a blow to his shoulder before driving the end of the staff into his stomach, sending him crashing across the road._

" _Now so tough without your blaster, are you?" I asked._

 _The monster roared and slashed both blades towards me. I easily blocked them, knocking them aside and forcing him back with a low kick. While he was still off-balance, I charged after him. He lashed out with his right blade, but I held the blade in check with my staff and aimed a glancing blow for his wrist. He yelped and dropped the weapon, and I quickly kicked it away. He swung again with his left, but I stepped around the blade and slammed my staff into his wrist. The blade flew across the street where it passed in front the clock blaster and froze in mid-air._

 _Father Time retreated, clutching his wrists. I followed after him and landed a blow to the chest, striking his arms clear. With a clean shot, I spun my staff around me and rammed it through the monster's chest, instantly shattering the glowing pendulum._

 _The monster was slammed away from me in an explosion of sparks and fire. For a weird second, he hit the ground in slow motion, as if time was catching up to the rest of us, before a hundred people along the street flickered into being and collapsed to the ground. The monster's blade clattered harmlessly against a car door, while the flock of puzzled seagulls took to the air._

 _But I wasn't done yet. As my team-mates recovered, I glanced to the clock blaster, still lying on the street. Raising my staff, I took to the air, the one direction the clock wasn't facing. Falling towards the weapon, I slammed my staff into the blaster with all my might and finally smashed the weapon into a million pieces._

* * *

I jumped back in alarm, sweeping my gaze around the cave for any sign of the drones that had already hatched. Damn it. I'd been so eager to explore that I hadn't noticed them until I'd almost tripped over them. I was suddenly aware of just how enormous the cave really was. It stretched on for hundreds of metres in every direction, and the faint light from the pulsing green amber only made everything more eerie. But wherever the drones were, I couldn't see them. The only thing moving in the cave right now was me. It made sense. I doubt the giant cybernetic insects would've been able to steal more than five hundred people on their own. Besides, what galactic conqueror doesn't need a few grunt troops occasionally? Which really made more problems for _us_.

I suddenly realised I could hear a faint buzzing sound, from somewhere just out of sight.

Keeping an eye out for the six drones, I stepped away from the pods and hurried over to the back of the cave. There was another hole in the cave wall that disappeared into darkness, and I guessed this was the tunnel leading back to the city. It was easily wide enough for one of the spiders. Beside the tunnel was a lot more metal scaffolding, and as I approached, I noticed dark shapes in the gloom, perched on several layers of the metal platforms. At first I thought they were more pods stacked up in rows, but these were different. The eggs were only half-formed, the shells reaching to my waist. And they didn't have a solid green shells, but a mass of self-replicating metallic tiles. The figures in these eggs were slumped over in some kind of purple haze. I'd just climbed up to investigate when one of the figures closest to me groaned.

I gasped.

 _I'd found the missing people!_

Every one of half-built pods had a person unconscious inside, men, women and children. I raced forward and reached out for the man inside the nearest pod, but caught myself with a second to spare. The purple mist was emerging from a silver junction box nearby. If it was keeping everybody unconscious, I really didn't want to get any on me. At least the people looked okay. Several of them were groaning as if in a deep sleep, and I could see their chests moving with every breath. I still didn't know why they'd been kidnapped, and it can't have been for anything good, but at least I found them. I just had to wake them up and get them out of here.

I heard a strange clicking noise behind me and knew instantly what it was. Metal claws on a rocky floor. I spun around, my hands raised defensively, instantly in Ranger mode.

The six drones stood facing me. I'd been found.

For a few seconds, nobody moved. The drones looked almost as surprised to see me. But even with my heart pounding in my chest, I realised the captured people were directly behind me and would be caught in any crossfire. Keeping calm, I carefully edged sideways, moving towards the middle of the cave. As a single unit, the drones followed after me.

"Why'd you attack the city?" I asked. "What do you want with all those people? You need to let them go, right now!"

They didn't respond. Grimly silent, one of the drones took a menacing step towards me.

I didn't back down. "Who are you working for?" I continued. "Who's your boss? What's the plan here? Where did you even come from?"

The drone raised his right arm. I saw the glistening barrel of a blaster attached to his gauntlet and spun into the air as the cave lit up around me. The blast smashed into the rock where I'd been standing a second ago, and I dropped to the ground and found my footing. Okay. Hostile it was.

"You guys aren't talkers then?" I asked. As they closed in, I reached for my back pocket. "Then I'll do the talking for us," and my fingers closed around my morpher. "It's morphin' time! Brontosaurus!"

The cave exploded in light and sound. The drones retreated at the storm of blue light, and once it faded, I was standing before them as the Blue Ranger. Hesitating for a second longer, the drones crept back towards me. The lead drone hissed a command to the other five, and the two closest to him took to the air, falling towards me with their shining talons. I stepped forward and caught their arms as they fell, halting their descent in mid-air.

"No," I said simply, and threw them away. The two beasts crashed to the cave floor about thirty feet away. The other four watched them go, then suddenly charged towards me.

I held my ground as the buzzing drones attacked. One of them lashed out at my helmet, and I blocked the creature's arm and struck him back with a rapid blow to his shoulder. Another attacked from the right, and I spun under his outstretched arm and threw him into the cave wall behind me. While I was off-balance, two more attacked side-by-side. I struck away a glancing blow from the left and batted away a low kick from the right, sending one stumbling with a powerful blow to the chest while forcing the other back with a low kick. The fifth drone raced towards me even as his comrades hit the ground, but I slammed the creature back with a high kick. I dropped to the ground as the lead drone aimed his wrist blaster for me again. By the time he fired, I'd already closed the distance between us. The cave lit up behind us as I tore the blaster off his armour with one hand and crunched it in my palm, before launching him off his feet with a powerful uppercut.

Beaten but hardly defeated, the drones shakily climbed to their feet. Regaining their senses, they turned to face me.

"C'mon boys, give up," I said. "There's still time to…"

Footsteps echoed out of the tunnel. Six glowing arrows whistled past me and thudded into the chest armour of each drone.

"Wait, no there's not," I said.

The arrows exploded, slamming the drones into the cave wall where they crumpled to the ground and moved no further. I turned to see the Pink and Aqua Rangers charging out of the tunnel, Kim with her Power Bow held high.

"Guys!" I grinned.

Barrelling towards me, Brendan let out a cry of joy and wrapped his arms around me, lifting me off the ground with a bear-hug. Behind us, Kim laughed and clapped me on the shoulder.

"Dude," Brendan cried. "You fell, and we thought we lost you!"

I laughed, and felt my arms groaning in protest. "Brendan, I'm gonna need those back at some point."

Brendan finally stepped back. "It's good to see you," he said.

"Trust me, I am very glad to see you too," I said, and I realised I meant every word. "The dream team back together, eh? I figured the tunnel led back to Lumelian, but how'd you find me?"

"Zordon and Alpha switched the city back on," Kim explained. "There was _some_ negotiation involved," and I glanced between the two of them as Brendan laughed, "but we followed the evacuation route and found the tunnel in a basement under one of the spaceship hangars. Something had chewed through the foundations of the building. Once we saw that, we came running. It's only about a kilometre back to the city."

"The tunnel I followed was a lot longer," I said, and we turned to the pile of drones, twitching on the ground.

"So bugs are our bad guys?" Brendan asked.

I nodded. "The good news is I found the missing people," I said, and indicated the metallic pods behind me. "I think they're okay for the moment, but I didn't get the chance to free them. The bad news is those six drones are just the warm-up. There's like a thousand more of those guys in eggs on the other side of the cave, and I think they're close to waking up. The worse news…"

"There's worse news?" Brendan interrupted.

"… is that there's a second cave even bigger than this one," I continued, "filled with even larger bugs. Spiders and wasps and mantises the size of our zords. Whether they're purely robotic or actually alive, I'm not sure."

"Zac picked the right mission to sit out on," Kim said, and turned to the kidnapped people. "But we need to get these people out of here."

"I don't know how to wake them up," I said. "I'd say the purple haze is keeping them unconscious, and I think it's controlled by those silver junction boxes there."

"It doesn't look like there's an off switch," said Brendan.

"Then let's just break everything and see where that gets us," said Kim. "We don't have a lot of time boys. Go!"

* * *

 _To be continued._


	7. Chapter 7

_Author's notes - ChibiDawn, yeah, I saw that once on a motivational poster, and I thought, yep, that's a pretty apt philosophy for superheroes in general :). Anyway, enjoy chapter seven, where our oddly-familiar villainous mastermind is revealed ...  
_

* * *

 **Chapter Seven**

The three of us scattered. Kim vaulted up to the higher platform while Brendan ran towards the back of the cave. I raced up to the closest eggs and used my blade blaster to destroy the nearby junction box. It sparked and shook, and the mist quickly started to dissipate. As I watched, the geometric tiles fell away, while the people within began to stir.

The woman in the nearest pod was wearing a silver uniform. I couldn't read the title and insignia on her name badge, but I knew enough to realise she was probably someone pretty important. Her eyes fluttered open and she collapsed forward. I put her arm around my shoulder to steady her, and hit the universal language translator on my belt.

"Where am I?" she asked in a shaky voice, as I helped her out of the remains of the egg. "Who are you?"

"I'm a Power Ranger from Earth," I replied. "I'm here to help. I know this sounds crazy, but the whole city was kidnapped by a race of cybernetic insect creatures. We're currently in a cave underneath Lumelian. How do you feel?"

I stood back. The woman was woozy for a second, but found her balance soon enough.

"My head hurts, but apart from that, I'm not too bad," she replied, massaging her scalp. She took a second to gaze around in disbelief at the pods all around her. "My name's Shanna. We're actually in a cave under Lumelian, you say?"

I nodded. All around, I could see the other citizens stumbling out of the eggs, disoriented and confused. "We're all still in danger," I said quickly, "and there's a lot of people I need to help. Will you be okay?"

Shanna nodded, understanding the severity of the situation. "Go," she said. "Go! I'll help as best I can."

In the shadowy corner of the cavern, Kim reached the last egg along the row of raised scaffolding. It looked as if the egg's occupant had already climbed to safety, but she couldn't see anybody nearby. Reaching the pod, she peered in and her face fell. The egg's occupant was a young girl, her dark hair matted against her head. She couldn't have been more than six or seven, and she was curled up in fear at the bottom of the silvery prison, trying to make herself as small as possible. The Pink Ranger recalled Zordon's words that some of the city's residents were indeed young children, and her heart went out to the girl.

"Hey," she said softly. "Hey, are you okay? I'm the Pink Ranger. What's your name?"

The girl lowered her arms and turned to face the person addressing her, her eyes going wide at the sight of the Pink Ranger. "Alesia," she replied with a sniffle. She wiped her face with the back of her hand.

"That's a pretty name," Kim said. "Listen, I need like one second, and I'm gonna get you out of here, okay? Just hang on."

She began breaking through the egg, but the panels fell apart in her hands with little resistance. Kim had soon torn a large enough gap in the side of the pod, and she reached in and offered the young girl her hand.

"C'mon," Kim said. "Let's get out of here."

Alesia hesitated a second longer, then reached out and took Kim's hand. Standing up, she quickly climbed out of the pod. But standing on the platform, Kim could see the girl shivering, and the Pink Ranger knelt down and wrapped her arms around her.

"It's gonna be okay," she said. "Are you cold?"

Alesia sniffled. "No," she squeaked. "It's so dark here and … I'm scared."

"Well it's okay to be afraid of the dark," Kim began. "You see this little golden coin here?" and she tapped the morpher on her belt. Alesia nodded, and Kim continued. "That means the dark's afraid of _us_." Alesia smiled. Pleased that she looked better, Kim stood up. "C'mon, let's go find your parents. They'll be around here somewhere."

Between the three Rangers and the increasing number of rescued civilians, it was only a short time later before a crowd of people had gathered in the middle of the cave. Brendan, Kim and I reunited in front of the crowd and swept our gazes over the eggs, but every single one of them was empty. One problem down. Twenty to go.

"Okay," began Kimberly, raising her voice. "Lumelian isn't too far away. We need to get you out of here and back up to the city, as fast as we can."

"I wouldn't do that if I waszzz you," came a voice.

We spun around on the spot. Brendan summoned his Power Sai with a thought. It was the same voice we'd heard back in the city, an insect-like buzzing that made my ears hurt. Emerging from the shadows was a dark figure. My first thought was that it was another drone, but this one was a lot taller than the rest and he seemed to be shaped differently. His body was covered in a mix of spiked silver armour and thick bony plates. His boots and gloves all ended in sharp, silver claws, while I could see four angular wings jutting out from his back. Two bulging eyes peered out from under the creature's twitching antenna, while a pair of fearsome silver claws protected the proboscis jutting down from his chin.

"Welcome to my hive," the creature finished.

"This is because of you?" Kim asked, her Power Bow aimed for the beast's head. "Who are you?"

The beast stopped a few metres away and stood to his full height, towering over the three of us. "I am a warrior drone of the queen'szzz most honoured regiment," he replied. "My full name iszzz unpronounceable in your limited human tongue, and it would be insulting to even try. But I will permit you to call me the Inszzzectoid."

"Whoever you are, we're not letting you hurt anybody," Brendan said, nodding back to the crowd behind us as they watched on in silent terror.

But the Insectoid didn't listen, and his gaze drifted over our suits. "I had expected reszzzcue," he buzzed softly, "but I had not expected thiszzz. Something about your szzzuits is hard to szzzee, and those golden trinketszzz on your belts, they are not … I do not understand thiszzz at all."

"Where are you from anyway?" asked Kim.

"He's from the planet below," I said, realisation dawning. "Aren't you?"

The Insectoid turned to me. "You are szzzmarter than you appear," the creature sneered. "Yeszzz, you're correct. Unlike our insect brethren throughout the galaxy, my brotherszzz and siszzzters grew strong enough to rule that world! Millionszzz of us, and the planet was ours for centurieszzz! When it could no longer support uszzz, we retreated here. Our queen did not survive, but I was taszzzked to protect the hatchery, and that I did."

"So you dug out these caves and set up shop underground," I said. I was glad to keep the Insectoid talking. Out of the corner of my visor, I could see the rescued citizens shaking their heads to clear the fog. All bad guys love to hear themselves talk. Zordon says it's an ego thing. But the longer we kept this guy talking, the more time we bought for everyone to recover.

"I waited for so long, watching the eggszzz," the Insectoid continued, "and then the humanszzz arrived, building their city in a place with no air or light. The arrogance of them! But I discovered a curiouszzz thing. They wasted szzzo much. So much metal, so much scrap. We are not the insignificant pests you're used to, humanszzz. Here in secret, I studied their technology and built myself a suit of armour with unmatched power! And once I learned how to adapt organic metal, I could make my drones unstoppable!"

"And the people of the city?" Kim asked.

"Every army needs to eat, does it not?" the Insectoid responded. "Kept in cellszzz, we could drain their life energy as it waszzz needed."

"Like ticks or mosquitos," I said. "It's why you went to so much trouble to keep them alive."

"I knew reszzzcue would come," the insect droned. "But with my army of droneszzz ready to hatch, it mattered little! Using this city as our base, we will spread out through the galaxy, planet to planet. Once humanity is gone, insectszzz will finally take their place as the rulerszzz of the galaxy!"

Kim stepped forward. "How about no?" she said, and sent a volley of arrows whistling across the cavern.

The cave erupted with sparks and smoke. The Insectoid raised his arms to protect himself, then charged through the blaze, unharmed.

"Infidelszzz!" he cried, and shot a barrage of stinging blasts towards us.

The cavern exploded as the crowd behind us screamed in fear. Brendan and I dived over the blast, rolling to our feet and aiming side-by-side high kicks. The cybernetic beast was faster than we thought, striking away Brendan with one hand and forcing me back with the other. Finding his footing, Brendan aimed high, but the Insectoid ducked the blow and lashed out, throwing the Aqua Ranger away. I aimed a low kick and the Insectoid stepped around the move, raking his claws for my chest in a shower of sparks. Even as I fell, Kim dropped down in front of our foe, slicing her bow for his head. He easily dodged the move, and when Kim aimed a point-blank shot for his chest, he struck the bow aside and the shot went wide. Before Kim could fire again, the Insectoid sent her crashing with a glancing blow to the shoulder. While he was distracted, Brendan rolled to his feet in front of the creature and slashed his sai across the Insectoid's chest. The beast hissed in annoyance, unfazed, and threw Brendan to the ground.

The three of us regrouped as the Insectoid closed in. This guy was tough. Damn.

I charged forward, swinging high, but the Insectoid blocked the blow and struck back. I dodged the move and Brendan launched one of his sai for the Insectoid's head. The creature stepped aside and the blade flashed past with millimetres to spare. Before he could recover, Kim leaped forward with a flurry of kicks, landing a blow to his shoulder. The Insectoid buzzed angrily and sent a blast whistling towards her, but Kimberly somersaulted back out of danger. Pressing forward, Brendan and I attacked again, Brendan aiming high while I kicked low. He spun to the side to avoid the blows when Kim leaped in from the other side, aiming a powerful strike for the beast's chest. He struck away her arm, catching a punch from Brendan and batting away my foot, trading blows with the three of us at once. Kim kicked high and the Insectoid spun around the move, sending Kim crashing with a high kick. Blocking his spiked gauntlet, I aimed a rapid blow for his shoulder, but he caught my arm and spun me off my feet. I crashed into Brendan and we hit the ground in a painful tangle of limbs.

The three of us picked ourselves up as the Insectoid laughed.

"You are the beszzzt that humanszzz have to offer?" he chortled.

"I hate to say it, but this is getting us nowhere," Kim breathed.

I glanced to the pods across the cave and noticed the drones squirming around far more actively than they'd been before. "We're out of time," I said. "Those drones are about to hatch! We need to get these people out of here!"

Brendan nodded to one of the platforms of hatching eggs a few metres behind our foe. "If we can't beat him," he began, "let's stall him. Kim?"

My first thought was that it would be hopeless, but we were running out of options. I held silent as Kim raised her Power Bow.

"Trying that again?" the cybernetic insect asked. It was hard not to hear the contempt in his voice.

"Not quite," Kim replied, and aimed a glowing arrow at the Insectoid's feet.

"Wait," the creature began. "What are you…?"

The arrow slammed into the ground, throwing up a cloud of dust. The Insectoid grunted and waved his arms to clear the smoke, when Brendan flew through the cloud and slammed his boots into the beast's chest, launching the Insectoid into the scaffolding holding up the platform. Taking out one of the support struts, the Insectoid slammed into the rocky wall and crashed to the ground. The scaffolding groaned, and Kim sent a dozen more arrows across the cave, smashing into the metal platform. With a roar, the structure collapsed, burying the cybernetic insect in a pile of rock and twisted metal. Cracks splintered up the cave wall and into the ceiling, as showers of chipped stone rained down over us.

The six drones I'd fought earlier charged over to the Insectoid, immediately trying to dig him out.

"Good plan," said Kim.

"Thanks," Brendan replied.

"That'll buy us some time," I said, "but not much. We gotta move," and I turned to the crowd of civilians, watching the battle with breathless terror. "The tunnel behind you, follow that back to the city."

"It's not far," Brendan urged. "It'll take you to one of the spaceship hangars."

"If you can walk, help somebody who can't," Kimberly called. "But you need to _move_."

As people began evacuating the cave, the woman I spoke to earlier ran past me. "You're one of Zordon's, right?" Shanna asked. I nodded, and she smiled. "Tell Zordon he picks them well." Leading a crowd of people, Shanna disappeared into the tunnel.

Across the cavern, the Insectoid blasted his way free of the rocks trapping him, sending debris flying into the air. The six drones cowered behind him as he stormed out of the rubble. Sweeping his gaze over the crowd of civilians, the creature slammed his fist into the wall.

"How dare you?" he screeched, the whine in his voice shaking the pods around him. "Thoszzze people belong to me!"

With Kim and Brendan ushering them to safety, the last of the kidnapped people escaped the cave.

"That's what you get for underestimating humans," I said.

The Insectoid trembled with rage. "Fine," he buzzed, and raised his wrist. Too late, I saw the blinking control panel on his gauntlet. "If my army cannot feed, then we will start our conqueszzzt of the galaxy early! Awaken, my creatures!" And he tapped a button on the wristpad. "Awaken and destroy!"

Sharp cracks filled the air. Without even looking, we knew what was happening. "He's waking up the drones," Kim said.

The ground shook beneath us, a steady rhythm causing showers of stone to rain down on us. Not large vibrations like an approaching zord, but _lots_ of footsteps, all moving together. There was the sound of another explosion, muffled through layers of rock, and a great rush of air, like a hurricane out of a bottle. The cracks in the walls grew even more pronounced, and I wondered just how much more damage the cave could take.

"What was that?" asked Brendan.

"The larger bugs in the other cave," I realised. "They've blasted their way to the surface and they're heading for the city! Brendan, you've got to beat 'em there!"

"On it!" the Aqua Ranger cried and dashed off. In a second, he'd disappeared from view.

"Kim…"

"I'll get everyone to safety," she said, and nodded to the tunnel. "And Brendan might need my help."

I looked back to the Insectoid as dozens of drones began climbing free of their pods and gathering around their leader. "I'll stay here and hold off the drones. That'll give everyone a chance to get to safety," I said. "Make sure everyone makes it back, then shut the airlocks behind you."

More and more drones were assembling around the Insectoid. Kim frowned. "There's hundreds of them, and there's a lot more that haven't woken up yet," she said quickly. "Are you sure?"

I nodded. "Let me do this."

Kim rested a hand on my shoulder. "Kick their butts Scott," she said, and she raced back into the tunnel.

* * *

 _To be continued._


	8. Chapter 8

_Author's notes - ChibiDawn, funny you should say that :). The Insectoid is another of my original villains that I thought would fit the PRverse quite well. The first time I used the character was in_ The Impossible Boy _, but that story happens_ after _this one (which explains why Brendan, Kim and Scott respond the way they do when they hear that he's involved). I wrote_ The Impossible Boy _after feeling underwhelmed by Megaforce, but I used three different villains that just happened to sync up with the three villains from that series. I hadn't planned that at all, it's just how it turned out (a fanatical female robot, an army of cybernetic insects, and a horror/pop-culture themed monster as the third. It was a total coincidence). It's why I needed to use the Insectoid in_ this _story, because this is where the team meets him for the first time (plus it allowed me to come up with some back-story and context for the guy. He's not a pleasant fellow, no). As for that dialogue from Kim, yeah, that's a conversation I always wanted to use, and it just fit in perfectly here.  
_

 _Anyway, this is the big climactic battle chapter, and the brief flashback with Father Time here will show how these two totally separate adventures connect. Enjoy :)._

* * *

 **Chapter Eight**

I held my ground and raised my fists as the Insectoid closed in, the drone warriors on all sides chirping and buzzing with anticipation. Kim was right. There was easily a hundred of the creatures. But it didn't matter, not for a second. The only thing standing between a vicious army and a city full of helpless civilians was _me_ , and I knew what I had to do. As the drones advanced, I watched as their clawed talons slid down over their wrists and locked into place.

"Great," I murmured. "Upgrades."

The Insectoid tilted his head. "Juszzzt you against all of uszzz?" he buzzed. "Surely you're not seriouszzz?"

"It doesn't have to be a fight," I called. "The Rangers and I, we can help you find a place to live."

The Insectoid snorted. "So we can co-exist?" the creature replied, spitting the word out like a curse. "We have no intention of living side-by-szzzide with you. Our destiny is to conquer! You think we care about the lesser specieszzz that stand in our way? Ask the field how it feels about the locustszzz! You're a fool, boy. There is only war!"

"But there doesn't have to be," I said. "I'm giving you a chance. Take it."

"To do what?" the Insectoid sneered. "How many battles have you fought? Do you think the galaxy cares who liveszzz and who dieszzz? Do you think it matters? How many civilisationszzz have risen and fallen in the last year? The last week? While we've been speaking? Face it, human child. The world you protect is empty and meaninglesszzz. Give up."

* * *

 _All around, I could see the Rangers picking themselves up off the ground and helping the people around us to safety. With Father Time damaged beyond repair, I followed after him, keeping my staff held high just in case._

 _The monster was lying on the road a few metres away in a pile of rubble. As I approached, he made no effort to climb to his feet. I saw that his appearance had changed to his fourth and final face. He looked ancient and tired, with pale skin, sunken cheeks and a watery eye. There were even more scars and cracks than before, and he seemed pitiful and broken._

 _Seeing me, the monster's mouth curled into a sad smile. "The ignorance of youth," he wheezed, so quietly I almost didn't hear him. "You still think victory is within your grasp, don't you?"  
_

" _Save it," I snapped. "Why do you even bother?"_

 _Father Time laughed, and the sound of it was unnerving. "Let me ask you," he began softly, "how many monsters have you fought? This week? Last week? How many more do you think you'll face after me? Zedd will triumph eventually. If not him, then someone else. All you fight for is worthless sentiment. Haven't you figured it out yet?" And he closed his eye and laughed. "The Universe is a mad, cruel, horrible place, little boy blue, and that's all there is to it."_

* * *

I grit my teeth, and faced down the army in front of me. " _Only if we let it be_!" I shouted. I held out my hands and summoned my Power Staff with a thought, the weapon appearing in a flash of blue. "I don't care how powerful you think you are! I am the Blue Ranger of planet Earth! I channel the power of the Brontosaurus! I'm stronger than you could possibly imagine! There are five hundred and twenty-seven people counting on me to protect them, and that means one thing!" I stepped towards the army of drones. " **You are not getting past me.** "

The Insectoid glowed incandescent with rage. "Tear him apart!" he screamed. As one, the crowd of drones surged towards me.

I tightened my grip around the staff as the drones closed in. Expecting an easy target, one of the drones raised his talons and leaped towards me. I blocked the blade with a metallic clang and struck him away with the staff, slamming him into the cave wall. Two more of the creatures charged forward. Dancing around them, I sent one flying with a blow to the head, while sweeping the other's legs out from under him. Even as I kicked him away, more of the drones took the cue to attack, three of them falling towards me with their talons raised. I blocked all three with my staff, kicked the middle creature away and slammed the other two off their feet with a wide swipe. Another crowd of opponents attacked while I was off-balance, but I sent one headfirst into the cave wall with a back swing, catching another high as I turned. I dropped a third with a rapid blow to the stomach. As he crumpled to the ground, I kicked him into the crowd of oncoming foes, taking several more to the ground.

"Stop him!" the Insectoid shouted. "Bring him down!"

No longer underestimating me, the drones started swarming around me, a sea of buzzing faces on all sides. But if they thought for a second that I was scared or even intimidated?

They were wrong.

With my arms and feet nothing but a blur of motion, I kept fighting, slamming three back with my staff before spinning the weapon around me in a wide arc to flatten half a dozen more. With my staff back in both hands, I forced an opponent's talons down then slammed the weapon into his face, before dropping one on the left with a high jab and sending one on the right crashing with a low swipe. One of the creatures slashed low, and I jumped back and over the move, springing forward and knocking him off his feet with a jump kick. I blocked another wild swipe with my staff and shattered the drone's faceplate with a solid right hook, before spinning around and flattening another with a powerful backhand. Dodging under my staff, one of the drones landed a stinging blow to my wrist. With a 'yelp', I dropped my weapon. Even as it fell, I grabbed the drone's head and threw him away, before kicking the falling staff into a line of approaching drones and taking them all down. The staff rebounded back to me, and in one smooth motion, I caught it and swung high, sending a drone to the left head-over-heels to the ground.

I struck another away and dropped two more with a high kick, but they were massing around me and I was barely keeping up with the tide. Glancing around quickly, I saw the tunnel that led back to the city, and realised what I needed.

A bottle-neck.

I sidestepped one of the drones as he sliced his talons towards me. Grabbing his arm, I launched him headfirst into the crowd. Buying myself a few seconds, I somersaulted out of danger, landing in the tunnel entrance and taking two steps back. The drones surged after me without stopping to think, jamming in beside each other in the narrow cave. I grinned to myself as they fought to get clear of each other and approached me single-file. I swung left and dropped one, blocking a swipe from the right and taking another to the ground a second later. I tripped a third with my staff and launched him back with a kick to the chest, while aiming my staff straight for the stomach of a fourth attacker. The blow lifted him off the ground and smashed him into the rocky ceiling. The whole tunnel shook, before he crashed onto several more and took the whole crowd to the ground. The drones still standing visibly recoiled, and with my staff flashing through the air around me, I continued flattening wave after wave of attackers without slowing down.

* * *

With his boots pounding the rocky ground, Brendan sprinted back down the tunnel towards Lumelian, dodging the civilians in his way and moving like an aqua blur. Reaching the tunnel entrance, he charged back into the city, weaving his way through the crowd until he finally emerged into the spaceship hangar.

"What's going on?" one of the residents asked, a tall man with a greying beard.

"Something bad is coming," Brendan replied. "I need you all in the great hall, as fast as you can. Shut every airlock behind you. Now what's the quickest way outside from here?"

The man pointed to a hatch against the wall. "There's a maintenance hatch by the hangar doors that'll get you outside," he said. "It's triple airlocked."

"Thank you!" Brendan called, already halfway across the room. Reaching the door, he hit the 'open' switch and lost precious seconds waiting for the hatch to unseal and open. Diving into the chamber, he closed the door behind him and opened the hatch into the middle chamber. It took seconds for the doors to open, but Brendan felt like he was in there for an hour.

"I know this was built to keep everybody safe," he said aloud, as he dashed into the third and final chamber, "but in a time-intensive world-saving situation, this is horribly inconvenient."

Finally, there was a rush of air and the last airlock swung open. The cold blasted through his suit for a second, and he raced out onto the lunar surface. The airlock opened onto a wide landscape ringed by craters and rocky peaks. But as the Aqua Ranger crossed the plain, he skidded to a stop. I'd been right about the bugs. Even as he watched, giant spiders and zord-sized praying mantises were skittering over the craters on a direct course for Lumelian, their eyes red and the panels along their bodies glowing green. He looked up and his eyes went wide at the swarm of wasp-shaped fighter jets descending towards him. All the bugs had drones as pilots, and he realised there must've been eggs in the second cave specifically to provide pilots for the larger creatures. Then, as the building-sized insects closed in, his grin returned.

"Giant bugs?" he said aloud. "Dude. I'm Australian," and he raised his arm to the stars. "I need dinozord power, now!"

With the wall of mechanical insects only a hundred feet away, one of the spiders surged ahead, skittering towards the tiny figure of the Aqua Ranger. The spider raised its front legs to attack when a giant three-clawed foot slammed down onto the creature, shattering it to pieces. The entire army came to a halt at the building-sized aqua Dilophosaurus zord towering over them, suddenly between them and the city. With its glowing green eyes surveying the battlefield, the Dilophozord let out a roar that somehow carried even through the vacuum. Raising his wrist, Brendan tapped his communicator and materialised in the cockpit a second later.

Settling into his seat, Brendan reached for the controls. "Okay big guy," he said, switching the zord's weaponry online, "army of monsters in front of us, city behind us. You know what to do. Go!"

The Dilophozord roared in response. Across the rocky plain, the army of bugs was no longer taking chances. Lining up their target, the mantises and spiders fired, a barrage of missiles and laserfire whistling towards the city spires behind the zord. The zord instinctively turned side-on to catch the blast, and the entire plain erupted in fire and smoke.

In the cockpit, a shower of sparks rained down over Brendan but the zord stayed standing. In a monitor to the left, he saw the buildings hadn't taken a single hit.

"Right," he said, and grit his teeth. "Our turn."

As the insects held back, the Dilophozord charged through the smoke cloud, powering across the battlefield and shaking the ground with every titanic step. The mantises opened fire but it was too late. Reaching the army, the Dilophozord sent a mantis flying with a powerful kick, before crushing two more under its feet. A swarm of spiders closed in, but the zord charged through, sending them crashing like skittles before sweeping its tail towards two more and crushing them against the side of a cliff. One of the spiders approached along the top of the ridge, firing wildly. Brendan pushed the zord through, and the zord lashed out with its front claws, tearing through the spider like paper. Another spider reached the zord's leg and began climbing, but the zord's eyes flashed, shattering the creature with a blast.

Keeping their distance, the remaining insects turned to their opponent and fired. The front of the zord went up in sparks and flame, forcing Brendan to steer the zord to safety. By now they were far enough away from Lumelian not to worry about stray blasts, but Brendan knew time was against him. Hitting a row of switches on the console to his right, panels on the zord's exterior folded down to reveal banks of missiles. Without waiting for his adversaries to fire again, the Dilophozord retaliated with a barrage of rockets, obliterating a dozen opponents in the onslaught. Explosions suddenly rocked the zord's head and chest, and Brendan looked up as the swarm of wasps descended. A blast from the Dilophozord's mouth took out a couple while a wild swipe from its claws shattered another, but several of the fighters buzzed past the zord on a course for the city.

Brendan hit the radio. "Kim?" he shouted. "There's giant wasps heading for the city and I can't stop them all!"

The cloud of wasps fell towards the unprotected city, priming their weapons and preparing to fire. The lead wasps suddenly ignited, bursting into flames and crashing to the ground. The two wasps behind exploded a second later. As the fighters scattered, the pink Phoenix thunder zord descended into view, with the Pink Ranger standing on top of the zord's body, her arms folded across her chest.

"One or a thousand," the Pink Ranger said, "you are _not_ hurting anyone today," and she teleported into the zord's cockpit. "Okay Brendan, let's take these things out!" And the Phoenix shot after the swarm to continue the battle.

* * *

With the entire cave shaking from the frenzied battle on the surface, the drones kept coming. Spinning my Power Staff around me, I launched two off their feet before stepping around a third. With my free hand, I grabbed the creature's head and slammed him into the rocky wall behind me. Two more of the drones lurched towards me. Stabbing my staff into the ground, I spun around their attacks and slammed their heads into each other.

I turned back to the cave as my opponents collapsed to the ground, only to find nobody left facing me. The crumpled and broken bodies of the drones littered the floor as far as I could see. Most of them were twitching or buzzing weakly. The few drones still standing were in no condition to fight, staggering around and trying to melt into the shadows. I reached for my staff and stepped back towards the increasingly frazzled Insectoid.

"What iszzz thiszzz?" the creature buzzed in disbelief. "Get up and fight! You are worthlesszzz, all of you!"

"That's what you get for underestimating people," I replied. "For underestimating me."

"No!" the Insectoid shot back. "You only bested the earliest hatchlingszzz! I have hundreds more, all of them slaveszzz to my will! They will live and die for me!"

I realised what he was saying. "And your queen didn't survive the trip from the planet below, did she?" I asked.

The Insectoid let out a short bark of laughter. "She waszzz weak," he buzzed, "and never would've done what waszzz needed!"

"Do you think it matters?" I asked, and pointed to the ceiling. "My friends are on their way, if they aren't here already. Eleven more, just like me. How do you think this is going to end?"

But he wasn't listening, and he marched towards me. "I will tear down that city myself if I have to," he growled.

I reached for my blade blaster and pointed it into the tunnel behind me. Without taking my gaze off my opponent, I fired a blast into the rocky ceiling and collapsed the tunnel. The ground shook for a few more seconds, and as the dust cloud cleared, I saw the Insectoid was frantic with anger.

"If I cannot destroy everything that humanzzz have built," he raged, his voice an ear-splitting screech, "I can at least destroy one of their heroes!" Twin blaster barrels rolled out of his wrists, and he raised both weapons at me and fired. I leaped to safety as the air ignited around me, the blasts smashing into the cave wall and gouging out great chunks of rock. Pieces of the cave wall rained down as I rolled to my feet, but the Insectoid didn't give me the chance to recover, blasting again and again, the stray blasts obliterating everything in sight. I dodged two shots but the third lifted me off my feet and slammed me into the wall, tearing away some of the scaffolding holding up the roof.

Dazed and hurt, I gazed around fearfully. The roof was still shaking, and it was only growing louder.

"No!" I shouted, pointing to the ever-widening cracks in the already-damaged cave walls. "Stop! You need to get your drones and get out of here! The cave's about to come down on our heads!"

The Insectoid cut me off with a blast aimed straight for me. I dived for the centre of the cave and the blast scorched past, doing even more damage to the crumbling cave wall. "Arrogant human!" the Insectoid replied. "You lie to save yourszzzelft!"

Before I could reply, he was there in front of me. Grabbing me by the throat, he casually threw me into one of the support beams holding up the roof. I smashed through the beam and took it with me to the ground. Every part of me hurt, but the damage was done. Huge pieces of the rocky ceiling broke free and crashed to the cave floor, taking more of the scaffolding with them in an escalating chain reaction. The gaps in the wall widened, cracks splintering along the cave wall faster than I could follow. As something large and heavy stomped over the surface above us, the ceiling finally broke apart. With no options left, I raised my wrist and shouted one word over the roar of the collapsing cave.

"Brontosaurus!"

The Insectoid was frozen in shock as the roof came down around him, but jumped to the side as the ground broke open beneath him. He gazed in disbelief as a giant blue Brontosaurus rose headfirst from the depths, staring at the cybernetic insect with a pair of glowing green eyes. The zord's long neck trailed after, followed by its stocky body and column-like legs, rising into the cavern as the place fell apart around us. As large as the cavern was, the metal beast barely fit, the zord's armoured back reaching the ceiling. Scanning the cave, the zord spotted me and let out a bellowing roar.

The Insectoid looked from the roof of the cave to the zord and then to me. "No!" he barked, and fired a blast towards me. "No!"

A panel slid open on the zord's front leg. As the cave collapsed, I launched myself into the zord, diving through the entrance and slamming into a wall as the roof caved in behind me. The panel sealed shut the second I was clear. The Insectoid's howl of frustration was lost in the deafening roar of the cave-in and the rush of air escaping into the vacuum, and he disappeared from view as an avalanche of rubble crashed down over him. Darkness fell as rock and stone continued to fall, and in another few seconds, the zord was totally buried by the collapsing cave.

* * *

On the surface, the Dilophozord just destroyed the final mantis when Brendan saw a huge section of the rocky plain collapsing in on itself, throwing up a cloud of dust and debris. The ground beneath them shook for a few seconds, then fell still.

"What the hell was that?" he asked.

Sending the last two wasps crashing to the lunar surface, Kim brought the Phoenix zord back around. "That was the cave!" she shouted. "Scott's still down there!"

Without another word, Brendan charged the Dilophozord across the battlefield towards the sunken hollow that had been the cave roof a minute ago, sweeping aside shattered fragments of the army of giant insects. With the Phoenix circling overhead, the Dilophozord reached the rim of the crater, when the rocks suddenly shook and the Brontozord rose from the rubble. Shaking itself free of the cave-in, the zord climbed out onto solid ground, its column-like legs trembling the ground with every step.

Brendan immediately hit the radio. "Scott, are you in there?" he asked.

"I'm here," I said, safe in the cockpit of the Brontozord. "It's okay. I'm all right."

"Dude, we were freaking out," Brendan replied. "Stop doing that to us! What happened?"

"I took out the Insectoid's army, but he came after me and brought the whole cave down," I said. "It destroyed all his technology and took out all the drones, but there just wasn't much I could do to stop him."

"At least you're okay," Kim said. "That's the important thing."

"It's a good thing he didn't know us very well," I said. "Otherwise he would've known the best part about being a Ranger."

"Always have friends you can count on?" Brendan asked.

I smiled. "Well said," I replied, and the Brontozord bellowed in response. "So how'd you guys go?"

"Lumelian's safe," Brendan said. "All the giant bugs were destroyed. The wasps too."

"And I'm getting word from the city now," Kimberly added, reading a line on the monitor before her. "They just did a head count. Five hundred and twenty seven people accounted for, safe and sound."

"Good work guys," I said, and slumped back in my seat. "Whew. What a day. We did it."

* * *

 _To be concluded._


	9. Chapter 9

_Author's notes - So we reach the end of another amazing adventure. Thanks for reading everybody :). I hope you guys enjoyed the story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Until next time, friends ...  
_

* * *

 **Chapter Nine**

Leaving the zords outside, Brendan, Kimberly and I made our way back into Lumelian. We stepped through the airlock to find search parties working their way through the city, making sure the Insectoid hadn't left any more surprises. Greeted triumphantly by the people we'd rescued, the three of us were soon introduced to the colony's ruling council, a dozen stern-faced men and women. While they were grateful for our efforts to protect Lumelian, they weren't too keen on the fact we'd had to let Zordon and Alpha hack the city's computer network to do so. Shanna tried to put in a good word for us, but there were a few minutes of really awkward questions that none of us could answer, interrupted only when the other nine Rangers finally arrived from Earth.

While we got everybody up to speed, the ruling council realised how useful it'd be to have twelve people who were immune to the effects of the vacuum. After a short discussion, they asked if we could stay long enough to help with some of the most urgent repairs. Everybody immediately agreed to help. Billy was so excited about the opportunity to explore Lumelian that I don't think we could've stopped him if we tried.

Which is how I eventually found myself standing in the ruined control room staring down through the enormous panoramic window over the city, while a legion of technicians worked to clear out the debris behind me and get the city's central control hub operational again.

The city felt so much more alive with the sounds of civilisation and the hustle of all the workers and scientists. On the lunar surface below, I could see the brightly-coloured uniforms of my team-mates alongside the silver spacesuits of the work crews. All around, windows along the city buildings were lighting up. The twinkling lights blended in with the stars above our heads, and I chuckled to myself at the thought.

"You okay?" asked Brendan, as the jovial Aqua Ranger joined me by the window.

"Yeah," I replied. "Just admiring the view. I think Lumelian is one of the most amazing places we've ever been as Rangers, and that's really not a short list, is it?"

Brendan laughed. "So you're happy?"

"I think I am," I replied, and turned to him. "What you said in the canteen before while we were searching the city? Thanks. I appreciated it."

"Don't mention it," Brendan replied, and hesitated for a second before continuing. "You know why I like going on missions with you, Scott?"

"No, why?"

"You always remind me how big the world is," he said. "How much is out there that we haven't seen or discovered yet. I like that."

"I do too," came a voice. We turned to see the Pink Ranger walking towards us. Kim put an arm around my shoulder and pulled me close. "Don't ever lose that," she said.

I blushed beneath my helmet. "How's, uh, how's the city?" I asked.

"Not too bad, all things considered," Kim replied, and I was glad for the change of subject. "I was talking to the chief engineer before. There's surprisingly little damage. The search teams haven't found any more of the Insectoid's tunnels, and it'll be easy enough to seal up the ones there already. It's gonna take them a bit longer to clear the mess out of the secondary emergency control room, but they've sealed the whole building off."

"Any sign of our least-favourite bug?" I asked.

"That's the bad news," Kim replied. "Jason, Tommy and Sarah dug their way into the Insectoid's underground base. The cave-in destroyed his tech and the rest of the eggs, but they didn't find any sign of him."

"Damn," I frowned. "I would've liked to find a body."

"The drones were destroyed, at least," Kim said. "Do you think he's gone for good?"

"Not with our luck," said Brendan.

"Yeah, I think the odds are good we'll see him again," I agreed. "On another impossible mission somewhere in the future."

"In the mean-time," Kim said, "how about the three of us help clean up the emergency control room?"

"That is fair," Brendan said. "That one's kind of on us."

I smiled. "C'mon."

* * *

Once we'd helped out as much as we could, we said our goodbyes. Shanna thanked the three of us on behalf of the city's ruling council. After making sure they'd call us again if they needed us, the twelve of us returned to Earth, taking the zords with us. Safely back in the Command Centre, we demorphed before Zordon's energy tube, and Kim, Brendan and I could finally tell everybody about everything that had happened, from arriving in the abandoned city to holding off the Insectoid and his army. Zordon and Alpha listened intently along with our friends, interrupting occasionally to ask questions.

"And from there we headed back into the city," Kimberly finished. "Which is when you guys showed up."

"Finally," Brendan grinned, and ducked as everybody threw things at him.

"An extraordinary tale," Zordon said. "You did a very good thing today Rangers, and I'm proud of you."

"Man," murmured Zac. "Bugs as big as buildings? Really?"

Tommy turned to him. "It was probably a matter of time," the White Ranger said.

"At least the transmitter worked," I said, and gestured to the device on the console next to me. "It was perfect."

"That is good news," Alpha said. "But Zordon, I still think we can develop something better, so the Rangers can access our databanks while on faraway missions."

"So," Teresa began, nodding to my journal on the counter where I'd left it. "You gonna write this one up?"

I nodded. "A lot to write," I replied. "Lumelian was such an amazing place. I really hope we get to go back there."

Across the room, Jason raised his voice. "Good work everybody," he called, and tapped his communicator. "The real world beckons," and everyone began teleporting out in flashes of light.

"Zordon, before we go," Kimberly began. "We loaded some of the Insectoid's tech into the Phoenix before we left."

"Yeah, we thought you might've wanted to take a look at it before we, you know, throw it into the sun," I added.

"Thank you Rangers," Zordon beamed. "I appreciate that very much. Alpha, let's unload them into one of the testing vaults downstairs. Brendan and Kimberly, if you could help Alpha?"

"Sure thing Zordon," Brendan replied, and they followed Alpha out of the room.

I smiled to myself. I'd known Zordon long enough to guess his intentions. "You wanted to talk to me?" I asked.

"I just wanted to know how you're feeling," Zordon replied.

"I know holding off an army is no small feat," I began. "But I didn't get too badly hurt. The worst part was when the cave collapsed, to be honest."

"That's not quite what I meant," Zordon said softly.

I looked away for a couple of seconds. "I guess I'm just worn down," I replied. "Another day, another disaster. When does it stop, you know?"

"The nature of the business, unfortunately," Zordon said, and he swept his gaze around the room to make sure we were alone. Then he said something I never expected to hear him say. "I am sorry Scott. For the burden I placed on all of your shoulders when you were far too young to carry it. That much, at least, is on me and me alone."

I heard the tone in his voice and looked up. "It's fine, I get it," I said. "We were the best candidates. What we do is important, I know that. It's just, knowing that the Universe isn't a great place sometimes, it's hard to accept. That's all."

"I hope you never accept that," Zordon replied. "Scott, even if people like Rita and Zedd never came to power, even if beings like the Insectoid dedicated their lives to peaceful coexistence, there would still be injustice in the world. There would still be intolerance, tyranny and cruelty. If you take away humankind's worse traits, they'd cease being human anymore, wouldn't they? And doing that pays no respect to their best traits, which to me is a far greater disservice."

"So after all this time, why haven't you given up on us all yet?" I asked.

"Because of the twelve of you," Zordon replied, and smiled. "I know it seems like there's an endless variety of tragedy in the galaxy. But every day, Scott, every day I see you and the Rangers making the world a better place. Can I tell you a secret? None of you ever needed a Power Coin to do that. One of the many things I can't do is see the future with any clarity. But in my heart, I genuinely believe that tomorrow will be better than today. It has to be."

"We just have to keep trying," I said.

Zordon beamed. "Exactly."

With that, Brendan, Kim and Alpha walked back into the room.

"Well boys, that was a good day of world-saving," Kim smiled.

"Apparently it's turned into an awesome afternoon," Brendan began. "We were gonna head down to the park and play some footy. Scott, do you want to come with us?"

* * *

 _I'd shattered his clock blaster and freed all the captured people, so the major threat posed by Father Time was over for the time being. But with a blast of magical lightning, the monster was suddenly fifteen storeys tall, rejuvenated and ready for round two. A short battle and one Ultrazord blast later, and he was no more. The city was safe again, with few injuries and only minor property damage. Once we were sure everybody in town was okay, the twelve of us teleported back to the Command Centre to demorph and recover from the battle._

" _Good work Scott," Jason smiled, slapping me on the back once Alpha and Zordon had relayed on what had happened while the team had been frozen._

" _Yeah, that was great," Teresa said._

 _Trini stepped over to me. "Are you okay?" she asked._

" _Yeah, I'm fine," I said, and offered my friends a smile. "Big day," and I stretched out my arms._

 _Brendan wandered over to me. "To celebrate your triumph over Father Time," he grinned, "do you wanna come back to the Youth Centre with Ian and me? Maybe play a few games of pachinko or something?"_

 _I glanced over to my journal, sitting on one of the consoles. "Thanks, but maybe next time," I said. "I've just got some stuff to do, that's all."_

" _That's cool," Brendan shrugged. "Whatever suits you," and he and Ian stepped away. As everybody disappeared from the building, I flipped open the book, pulled a pencil out of my pocket and began writing, while Alpha busied himself with the computers around me._

* * *

I glanced from the journal up to Zordon then back to my friends. "Yeah," I said. "That sounds fun. I can come back tonight and finish up then."

"Sweet," Brendan said, and the three of us reached for our communicators.

"Thanks Zordon," I said.

Our mentor chuckled. "Thank you Rangers," he said, and his gaze met mine for a second. "Have fun this afternoon. You've earned it." With a final wave, the three of us left the Command Centre in three bright flashes of light.

* * *

For the record? I did have a lot of fun that afternoon.

A few years later, the twelve of us did eventually return to Lumelian, as guests this time. In the interim, the city had undergone some pretty major expansion work, and it was even more amazing on the return trip. Of course there was trouble waiting for us, but at least it wasn't giant cybernetic insects this time. But I'll leave that story for Pete to tell. It's one of his favourites.

So that was it. Those were my two most memorable adventures.

Zordon was right, but then, he usually was about this sort of thing. Trouble never stayed far away from the twelve of us. And sometimes? Yeah. It felt impossible. Sometimes, the hill to climb was just too steep. But with my best friends beside me, helping me to be a better person every step of the way, I never stopped trying. It's our job to make sure tomorrow gets here, after all. Although sometimes I still needed reminding, if you don't at least have hope, what do you have?

I still look up at the stars, sometimes, trying to imagine all the places we haven't been yet. I read something once, that when the light from every star in the night sky finally reaches us here on Earth, there'll be so much light it'll turn the night into day.

Imagine that.

My name is Scott. I'm the Blue Ranger, armed with the Power Coin of the mighty Brontosaurus.

Saving people is what the Rangers do. And more and more these days, I'm pretty hopeful for whatever tomorrow brings.

 _The End._


End file.
